2022/12/30 15:30:01
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Take a good look at the new Russian/Iran trade route.
The key would be that the northern end is the Sea of Azov, if you trade you travel. Russia has given Iran access to the Black sea and Crimea. In addition Moscow and Minsk have adopted the practice of NATO countries in the nuclear field by converting Belarusian air force aircraft to use ammunition with a special – nuclear – warhead, Kommersant writes.
Iran gets right of passage, Belarus get nukes.
excerpt
Russia and Iran are building a new transcontinental trade route that is beyond the reach of any foreign intervention.
Both countries are subject to Western sanctions that have prompted them to turn toward each other and look eastward.
The new 3,000–kilometer passage stretches from the eastern edge of Europe to the Indian Ocean, along rivers and railways that are linked by the Caspian Sea.
At its northern end is the Sea of Azov which – President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month – “has become an inland sea” for Russia. It is bracketed by the Crimean Peninsula and the mouth of the River Don.
From there river, sea and rail networks extend to Iranian hubs on the Caspian Sea and ultimately the Indian Ocean.
Russia is finalizing rules that would give ships from Iran right of passage along inland waterways on the Volga and Don rivers, according to Iran’s Maritime News Agency.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/12/27/695229/Iran-Russia-trade-corridor-Western-sanctions-Caspian-
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-9e71f5b88d4282e83fed5f80a675a388-lq
map
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-9e71f5b88d4282e83fed5f80a675a388-lq
From the Caspian sea you sail up the Volga river to Volgograd (Stalingrad). There you go into the Volga-Don canal. Then you sail down the Don river into the Black sea.
The cover photo is certainly not the dark streets of Lvov, though friends from there and all points in UA never seem to have a problem with Emailing.. Very strange, as they are not hunkering down in a hot-point shelter somewhere.. Information on bomb-damage results can be wildly unpredictable..
Tulsi Gabbard exposes Zelensky and the Biden admin
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/g0MWx16-HO4
They said more celebrities and people of interest died this year than in any past year, so if you are one, you made to the end of 2022 when so many others didn’t.
Looking over the info coming from all major insurance companies reporting higher than average death rates within certain age groups of the population, it’s not just celebrities that are dying in higher numbers……if Died Suddenly were an illness, many are catching it.
Have a happy and healthy new year….cheers M
Vaxx deaths
I myself wonder at the coincidences > https://youtu.be/B9C3SAdw-AA Joan Rivers clip about Mike…
Some good news to end the year. Hope for the Palestinian people yet:
Breaking: The UNGA adopts a historic resolution referring the question of Palestine & the legality/illegality of the Israeli prolonged occupation to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
The court will also address the responsibility of third states to bring the occupation to an end.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FlP-2eEWYAApUix?format=png&name=large
Further:
To learn about what this Resolution means & its implications, you may read the article published last week: https://bit.ly/3Wyns8x
Here’s another article by @ralphwilde on what the ICJ will have to determine in its advisory opinion.
The Illegality of the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza: What the International Court of Justice Will Have to Determine in its Advisory Opinion for the United Nations General Assembly
http://opiniojuris.org/2022/12/23/the-illegality-of-the-israeli-occupation-of-the-palestinian-west-bank-including-east-jerusalem-and-gaza-what-the-international-court-of-justice-will-have-to-determine-in-its-advisory-opinion-for-th/
From truth comes justice; from justice comes peace!
Good health & happiness for the new year to my fellow Cafeistas – its been an absolute pleasure conversing with you this year.
Multipolarity continues at pace:
There’s more to China & Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) than just questions about the petroyuan.
Multilayered financial architectures are being designed to support deep capital integrations & flows.
Think of this as the portals & bridges for financial data. See remarks from Xi Jinping
China to use Shanghai exchange for yuan energy deals with Gulf nations – Xi
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-xi-tells-gulf-nations-use-shanghai-exchange-yuan-energy-deals-2022-12-09/
Phillip Agree was hunted to the ends of the earth Here he explains: “The CIA doesn’t give a hoot about democracy” (0;16)
https://twitter.com/MyLordBebo/status/1608976461800812544
Apparently his book is brilliant.
Mr P thanks for your last comments in the previous Cafe.
*************
I’ve been wondering how he was going to do this.
December 31 2022 Putin calls for ‘strengthening of Russian-Israeli cooperation in all areas’
“The relationship between Russia and Israel has soured over the war in Ukraine, with Russia warning Israel against weapons deliveries to Ukraine”
https://thecradle.co/Article/news/19934
Glad the comments were welcome.
They say that the “west” is on the down-slope of affairs, and going broke…at such times, perhaps, a warm bear-hug might be nice for Israel…and in a bear-hug, the bear decides the dance, eh? Bibi better watch his step, bear might hug too tight and step on Bibi’s toes…
………….
Considering the History, including statements from Russia from prior to Minsk deal (law, The UNSC blessed it) the parties deceived by the Minsk deal were the parties attempting to deceive…they coned themselves. Like Burroughs said, the one Mark you cannot beat, the mark inside… The confidence operation, the swindle, swindled the racketeers. In contract law…well! A fraud on the Court brings jail time for contempt, and civil liability…for starters.
Noting also that this conspiracy to deceive included, one might say, a fraud on the UN Security Council.
…………………………
Taking the long view of History…found YT site that gives US Radio newscast from longtimeago…some of which are familiar to my ear…and all of which serve to inform the cultural dissolution of the US Republic and the US National character and custom, as they describe real events that are almost unimaginable to-day. A deep and shattering comparison between then and now… see> https://youtu.be/IdtNCPTOw-g (take time to savor!) (1950, lotsa strikes!…strikes are one of my favorite things!
better> https://youtu.be/EbBVfQISovk January 4, 1942
And many others!
Best! P
Second confirmation:
In an exclusive interview with the Kyiv (sic) Independent , former French President François Hollande confirms the words of former Chancellor Angela Merkel in Die Zeit . To the question “Do you also think that the Minsk negotiations were aimed at delaying Russian advances.
François Hollande confirms Minsk Agreements were only a Western maneuver
https://www.voltairenet.org/article218584.html
mountain pass,
eyes in the back of his head;
the king’s guard
Interesting read I found :
Ukraine is a Pawn on the Grand Chessboard
Alienating Ukraine from Russia while ignoring its security concerns has been a lasting goal for the US hegemony. How did Zbigniew Brzezinski’s theories affect the decision-making process and strategic planning of consecutive US administrations?
Ukraine is a Pawn on the Grand Chessboard
Brzezinski was proud and explicit: “We didn’t push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would”
Zbigniew Brzezinski’s book “The Grand Chessboard” was published 25 years ago. His assumptions and strategies for maintaining U.S. global dominance have been hugely influential in US foreign policy. As the conflict in Ukraine evolves, with the potential of escalating into a world war, we can see where this policy leads and how crucial it is to re-evaluate.
The need to dominate Eurasia
The basic premise of “The Grand Chessboard” is outlined in the introduction:
*with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States is the sole global power
* Europe and Asia (Eurasia) together have the largest land area, population, and economy
* U.S. must control Eurasia and prevent another country from challenging US dominance
Brzezinski sums up the situation: “America is now the only global superpower, and Eurasia is the globe’s central arena”. He adds “It is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus of challenging America”.
The book surveys the different nations in Eurasia, from Japan in the east to the UK in the west. The entire landmass of Europe and Asia is covered. This is the “grand chessboard” and Brzezinski analyzes how the US should “play” different pieces on the board to keep potential rivals down and the US in control.
Brzezinski’s Influence
Brzezinski was a very powerful National Security Advisor to President Carter. Before that, he founded the Trilateral Commission. Later, he taught Madeline Albright and many other key figures in US foreign policy.
Brzezinski initiated the “Afghanistan Trap”. That was the secret 1979 US program to mobilize and support mujahedin foreign fighters to invade and destabilize Afghanistan. In this period, Afghanistan was undergoing dramatic positive changes. As described by Canadian academic John Ryan, “Afghanistan once had a progressive secular government, with broad popular support. It had enacted progressive reforms and gave equal rights to women”.
The Brzezinski plan was to utilize reactionary local forces and foreign fighters to create enough mayhem that the government would ask the neighboring Soviet Union to send military support. The overall goal was to “bog down the Soviet army” and “give them their own Vietnam”.
With enormous funding from the US and Saudi Arabia beginning in 1978, the plan resulted in chaos, starvation and bloodshed in Afghanistan which continues to today. Approximately 6 million Afghans became refugees fleeing the chaos and war.
Years later, when interviewed about this policy, Brzezinski was proud and explicit: “We didn’t push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would”. When asked if he had regrets for the decades of mayhem in Afghanistan, he was clear: “Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? …. Moscow had to carry on a war that was unsustainable for the regime, a conflict that brought about the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet empire…. What is more important in world history? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some agitated Muslims or the liberation of central Europe and the end of the Cold War?”
Afghanistan was a pawn in the US campaign against the Soviet Union. The amorality of US foreign policy is clear and consistent, from the destruction of Afghanistan beginning in 1978 continuing to the current starvation caused by US freezing of Afghan government reserves.
The blow-back is also clear. The foreign fighters trained by the US and Saudis became Al Qaeda and then ISIS. The 2016 Orlando nightclub massacre, where 49 died and 53 were wounded was perpetrated by the son of an Afghan refugee who never would have come to the US if his country had not been intentionally destabilized. Paul Fitzgerald eloquently describes the tragedy in his article Brzezinski’s vision to lure Soviets into Afghan Trap now Orlando’s nightmare.
US Supremacy and Exceptionalism
The “Grand Chessboard” assumes US supremacy and exceptionalism and adds the strategy for implementing and enforcing this “primacy” on the biggest and most important arena: Eurasia.
Brzezinski does not countenance a multi-polar world. “A world without US primacy will be a world with more violence and disorder and less democracy and economic growth ….” and “The only real alternative to American global leadership in the foreseeable future is international anarchy”.
These assertions continue today as the US foreign policy establishment repeatedly talks about the “rules-based order” and “international community”, ignoring the fact that the West is a small fraction of humanity. Toward the end of his book, Brzezinski suggests the “upgrading” of the United Nations and a “new distribution of responsibilities and privileges” that take into account the “changed realities of global power”.
The importance of NATO and Ukraine
With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, many people in the West believed NATO was no longer needed. NATO claimed to be strictly a defensive alliance and its only rival had disbanded.
Brzezinski and other US hawks saw that NATO could be used to expand US hegemony and keep weapons purchases flowing. Thus he wrote that, “an enlarged NATO will serve well both the short-term and the longer-term goals of U.S. policy”.
Brzezinski was adamant that Russian concerns or fears should be dismissed. “Any accommodation with Russia on the issue of NATO enlargement should not entail an outcome that has the effect of making Russia a de facto decision-making member of the alliance”. Brzezinski was skillful at presenting an aggressive and offensive policy in the best light.
Brzezinski presents Ukraine as the pivotal country for containing Russia. He says, “Ukraine is the critical state, insofar as Russia’s future evolution is concerned”. He says, “Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire”. This is another example of his skillful wording because Ukraine as part of a hostile military alliance does not only prevent a Russian “empire”; it presents a potential threat. Kyiv is less than 500 miles from Moscow and Ukraine was a major route of the Nazi invasion.
Brzezinski was well aware of the controversial nature of Ukraine’s borders. On page 104, he gives a quote that shows many people of eastern Ukraine wanted out of Ukraine since the breakup of the Soviet Union. The 1996 quote from a Moscow newspaper reports, “In the foreseeable future, events in eastern Ukraine confront Russia with a very difficult problem. Mass manifestations of discontent … will be accompanied by appeals to Russia, or even demands, to take over the region”.
Despite this reality, Brzezinski is dismissive of Russian rights and complaints. He bluntly says, “Europe is America’s essential geopolitical bridgehead on the Eurasian continent” and “Western Europe and increasingly Central Europe remain largely an American protectorate”. The unstated assumption is that the US has every right to dominate Eurasia from afar.
Brzezinski advises Russia to decentralize with the free market and a loose confederation of “European Russia, a Siberian Russia, and a Far Eastern Republic”.
Afghanistan is the model
Brzezinski realizes that Russia presents a potential challenge to US domination of Eurasia, especially if it allies with China. In the “Grand Chessboard”, he writes, “If the middle space rebuffs the West, becomes an assertive single entity, and either gains control over the South or forms an alliance with the major Eastern actor, then America’s primacy in Eurasia shrinks dramatically”. Russia is the “middle space” and China is the “major Eastern actor”.
What was feared by the US strategist has happened: For the past 20 years, Russia and China have been building an alliance dedicated to ending US hegemony and beginning a new era in international relations.
This may be why the US aggressively provoked the crisis in Ukraine. The list of provocations is clear: moral and material support for Maidan protests, rejection of the EU agreement (“F*** the EU”), the sniper murders and violent 2014 coup, ignoring the Minsk Agreement approved by the UN Security Council, NATO advisors and training for ultra-nationalists, lethal weaponry to Ukraine, refusal to accept Ukrainian non-membership in NATO, threats to invade Donbass and Crimea.
Before Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, active duty soldier and former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said “They actually want Russia to invade Ukraine. Why would they? Because it gives the Biden administration a clear excuse to levy draconian sanctions… against Russia and the Russian people and number two, it cements this cold war in place. The military-industrial complex is the one who benefits from this. They clearly control the Biden administration. Warmongers on both sides in Washington who have been drumming up these tensions. If they get Russia to invade Ukraine it locks in this new cold war, the military-industrial complex starts to make a ton more money …. Who pays the price? The American people … the Ukrainian people … the Russian people pay the price. It undermines our own national security but the military-industrial complex which controls so many of our elected officials wins and they run to the bank”.
This is accurate but the reasons for the provocations go deeper. Hillary Clinton recently summed up the wishes and dreams of Washington hawks: “The Russians invaded Afghanistan back in 1980 … a lot of countries supplied arms, advice and even some advisors to those who were recruited to fight Russia….a well-funded insurgency basically drove the Russians out of Afghanistan…. I think that is the model that people are now looking toward”.
US foreign policy has been consistent from Brzezinski to Madeline Albright, Hillary Clinton, and on to Victoria Nuland. The results are seen in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria and now Ukraine.
As with Afghanistan, the US “didn’t push Russia to intervene” but “knowingly increased the probability that they would”. The purpose is the same in both cases: to use a pawn to undermine and potentially eliminate a rival. We expect the US will make every effort to prolong the bloodshed and war, to bog down the Russian army, and prevent a peaceful settlement. The US goal is just what Joe Biden said: regime change in Moscow.
Like Afghanistan, Ukraine is just a pawn on the chessboard.
Then they tried to play chess with Putin.
Skip, yes, 404 is pawn in view of “west”…this is the delusion of a waning corrupt fascist cadre, and many nazis.
But Brzezinski’s criminal program of making a war on the world reflects only the western naivete, hubris, and clumsiness. Moral bankruptcy. Criminal character. His writing exposes this, it may be welcome to the nazi cohort, but how does the world see it, what do they learn from The Great Man?
Witnessing this, how do the tellurocratic powers of Eurasia view 404, and indeed “west”?
Since about 1700 404 has been part of Russia, not a toy on the board. Comrade Xi smiles and cast his eye toward the sea, where the fascist fleet ferried the criminals in a plan to invade China…
Both know their enemy from, among many, Brzeninski…”Know enemy/know yourself/ fear not 1000 battles.”
The 404 war is the beginning of military technical force to bring about “change” in the character Brzeninski exposed…it ends when Mr Bear decides, with big change, reformation of west, essentially “revolution” in correction of the piratical western dao. Sounds kinna unpleasant…well, that’s how it goes…
Best! P
@Brzezinski does not countenance a multi-polar world. “A world without US primacy will be a world with more violence and disorder and less democracy and economic growth ….” and “The only real alternative to American global leadership in the foreseeable future is international anarchy”.
This is b/c administrative law has as its foundation, violence, to anything not abiding by their rules.
I think you’re right about especially the admin law foundation. I have heard that in the past from learned professor lady. I might quibble, proffering the Hopi way (or Quaker way) – but generally, yup, the state has the sole ownership of power, the hammer, so to say. They make the rules. There is resistance, an uneasy dynamic. Amish, whatever. Some sort of equilibrium…
I ought to study the guy’s writings and so forth. His implied assumptions and a-priori assumptions, particularly with respect to what he believed the US to be and would be. My hunch is that an examination of these features would reveal insanity in dear Mr B The unstated assumptions over time probably contradict, many might be false, and his belief set of the US was probably (actually now, I think, proved to be) delusional.
I would have studied him, but I don’t like him. Always found him obnoxious. Pretentious. Fake.
Best! P
Tip of the day: Be certain that before you ride the train, that the conductors name is not Casey.
Yes, sound policy.
I wonder if my thought came over though…Brzezinski told his putative enemy what his plan was. The assumption being that he held an ethnocentric-based hatred or contempt for the Russian, assuming that the US was superior. Telling an opponent what your plans are is generally an indicator that you underestimate him…anyway Casey Jones> https://youtu.be/0e-jRpFik3c?list=TLPQMDEwMTIwMjOqOaI_UE4Grw
(As a child a steam Southern-Pacific locomotive engineer gave me a 100 meter ride on a steam switch engine. Maybe I was 3…nice fella, pop said ok…and came along.)
Evidently, in fact, The Great Scholar blew it. Shoulautta a read Sun Tsu…
Like I said, I though B was a fake.
Best! P
Excellent summary Skip.
Thanks for that.
Cheers,
Turkey leaving Syria-eleven years in the making.
And then, wouldn’t you just know it, 10 oil workers are killed in IS attack in Deir ez-Zor, Syria.
The US is fighting ISIS in Syria and the 10 are most probably an excuse for the US to increase their presence in Syria. We shall see if this attack changes promising plans and if Syria is strong enough to assume its own defense, at least a bigger part.
Relations between Turkey and Syria
09:50 December 31, 2022/ IA Red Spring
Turkey ready to withdraw troops from Syria
The heads of the defense departments of Russia, Turkey and Syria agreed to withdraw troops from the territory of northern Syria during a meeting in Moscow, on December 31, the Al-Watan newspaper reports.
The publication, citing a source in Damascus, claims that Ankara, for its part, is ready to confirm respect for the territorial integrity of Syria and agrees to withdraw its troops from the territory of northern Syria.
The meeting participants also discussed other security issues in the region and agreed that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party poses the same danger to both Syria and Turkey. The issue of opening the M4 highway was also raised, which the parties discussed in 2020.
Specialized commissions will be created to implement the adopted decisions.
Recall, on December 28, an official meeting of representatives of Russia, Turkey and Syria was held in Moscow. These were the first talks between the three countries in 11 years.
https://rossaprimavera.ru/news/66ab9f34?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktop
10 oil workers killed in IS attack in Deir ez-Zor, Syriahttps://dzen.ru/news/story/Desyat_neftyanikov_pogibli_prinapadenii_terroristov_IG_vsirijskoj_provincii_Dejr-ehz-Zor–2bf01fcaaabf0fa432cfa05e16ff0424?lang=ru&fan=1&stid=I6fRnzFHgbARHZGikEnQ&t=1672504481&persistent_id=1211360595&story=0e2038da-443f-52df-90d7-140331b46e96&issue_tld=ru
2 days ago — Throughout 2022, US Central Command and partner forces conducted hundreds ofoperations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“Season of Glass” — Yoko Ono,
Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”
Happy New Year !
May your life be full of love and cheer,
and may you have a wonderful year.
Beg pardon, I am loath to offend in such sombre times – but https://youtu.be/azzX8ype9EI in first part (10 minutes? Is all about the Red Army kicking fascist,er, posteriors – through 404!
One might perhaps ask, have the esteemed and brilliant intellectuals running nazitoland not studied?
Best! I hope people will find the past in juxtaposition both illuminating and amusing. P
The good news just keeps on comin’
“Russian FM Sergey Lavrov’s call with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on New Year’s Eve… MFA readout in Moscow: They “discussed plans for cooperation between the two foreign ministries for 2023, including further coordination of steps to promote the Syrian settlement.”” – fmr Indian diplomat MKB
Look at the smiles on these faces
VVP: “Happy New Year! And on the count of “three” three times, as it should be in our environment, cheers. Happy New Year” (in Russian, 0:18)
https://twitter.com/CanadianKitty1/status/1609184889425006593
************
Significant… Russian MOD [Dec. 31]:
“As a result of surgical strikes by Russian Aerospace Forces, three temporary deployment centers of foreign mercenaries were hit in the vicinity of the populated localities of Krasny Liman and Chervonaya Dibrova in Donetsk Republic.” – MKB again
************
6 days ago: Douglas Macgregor: Underestimating Russia Is Bad Idea For The West, Tough Christmas For Ukrainians (14:48) https://youtu.be/D4WIdDStqeE
The New Year 2023 begins with President Putin’s New Year speech to the nation:
Putin gives unusual New Year address
Russia’s president has broken years-long tradition, addressing the nation from a military HQ
https://www.rt.com/russia/569238-putin-new-year-ukraine/
Ukraine can expect to lose property to Poland if they think Poland is their friend. And foolishly they were warned of that years ago:
Ukraine Braces for Polish Restitution Claims on Lands, Property Lost After WWII
https://sputniknews.com/20161119/ukraine-poland-impending-restitution-battle-1047630990.html
Why have the US and Ukraine always opposed Russian resolutions at the UN against the “glorification of Nazism”?
(9 mths ago) This RT doco on the history of Fascism, now widely banned on US channels, explains why.
Praecis: The film “Fascism: A History” by RT Documentary explores the nature of this vicious ideology and how it’s been tainting the societies long before and after Hitler.
Fascism is often paired with Hitler and WWII, but in reality, it’s been around for a long time. The idea of a “superior” race or people taking over the “inferior” one was the primary driving force for centuries of European colonialism. By the early 20th century, most of the world was divided between a few colonial nations. The UK had colonies almost all over the world, and France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Germany had their fair share of colonies. The proclaimed intention to bring civilisation, wealth, and, later, democracy was just a ruse to get to the countries’ resources and occupy the territory.
So, on the brink of WWII, the thirst for power and new acquisitions was just as great, and some of the allied forces wanted to kill several birds with one stone. Though the resolution of the European Parliament dated September 19, 2019, claimed it was Germany and the Soviet Union who paved the way for WWII. Secret files reveal Great Britain made agreements with Hitler and Nazi Germany in 1933, 1935 and 1938, while the US lent the Wehrmacht economic support. Both countries secretly negotiated a separate peace with Germany in 1945.
This was an attempt to use the Soviet Union to weaken or defeat the Nazis and, once done, annihilate the Soviets. Formed in 1949, NATO carried on with the colonialist rhetoric and took over more countries under the auspices of bringing democracy there.
Full doco: A History of European Fascism (54:54) https://youtu.be/X_ra2VHjNAk
And a really neat infographic (machine translation)
Hopefully, with the help of China, Iran & India, Russia will soon recover much of what it lost because of Germany and the US.
(in Russian) https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FlXkD-ZaYAMmGmZ?format=jpg&name=large
(in English) https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FlXkFSBagAAm6Mn?format=jpg&name=large
I seem to have another version than you:
– in the introductory overview a nice nite “pic-from-Paris-or-so” is shown, with the handwritten location below, perhaps from that Chinese photographer whose work appears often here…
… while in the Café proper for the first time there is no pic at all.
Am I the only one here who is spared the sight of Lvov being bombed?
This text of mine was placed as a response to “eddie on December 30, 2022 · at 6:06 pm EST/EDT” as a *reply* and not as a random idea to be placed no matter where.
Is this to be generally April’s fools’ day in January or a special cookie for me?
No it is not you .. I was working on solving a problem for Saker on the 30th and removed the current ‘Cafe’ and then restored it … You got caught between the versions … Herb (webmaster)
‘Am I the only one here who is spared the sight of Lvov being bombed?’
No, you are not quite alone, I noticed. Lvov’s a matter of being caught between versions, that’s all.
Since this article> “Russia’s Neo-Byzantinism” (Guyenot) calls upon philosophical literature with which I am not conversant, I cannot evaluate it properly. Nevertheless it seems astonishingly interesting and relevant to raveling out the designs of Russia, motivations, basic assumptions, histories. I might add that I recall that VVP was seated by the monks at Mt Athos in the throne of the Emperor, the Byzantine emperor, aheem. Guyenot does not mention that.
@ unz dot whatever
It’s well worth saving for reference and referral.
Best! P
Golden ruble 3.0: How Russia can change the infrastructure of foreign trade – Sergey Glazyev and Dmitry Mityaev
(In Russian) https://www.vedomosti.ru/opinion/columns/2022/12/27/957178-zolotoi-rubl
“Under unprecedented sanctions pressure, Russia’s task is not to learn to play by the ‘crooked rules’ of the West, but to build transparent and mutually beneficial rules of the game with friendly countries, to create its own systems of pricing, stock trading, and investment.”
“And gold can be a unique tool to combat Western sanctions if you recalculate in it the prices of all major international commodities (oil and gas, food and fertilizers, metals and solid minerals).”
“For thousands of years, gold (along with silver) was the core of the global financial system, the equivalent, the honest measure of the value of paper money and assets.”
“Russia, together with its Eastern & Southern partners, has a unique chance to ‘jump off’ the sinking ship of the dollar-centric debt economy, ensuring its own development and mutual trade in the accumulated and extracted strategic resources.”
“The gold standard in the C19th was lobbied in Europe by Rothschild – it gave him (and Britain) the opportunity to subjugate continental Europe to the British financial system at the expense of gold loans. Russia joined the ‘club’ under Count Witte.”
“Reformer Khrushchev canceled the ruble’s peg to gold, implementing in 1961 a currency reform where the ruble was devalued 2.5x & pegged to the dollar creating the conditions for Russia’s subsequent transformation into a ‘raw materials appendage’ of the Western financial system.”
“Now objectively there are conditions for the ‘Golden Ruble 3.0.’ The sanctions imposed against Russia have boomeranged on the Western economy. There is a real possibility to significantly increase the gold reserves in the nearest future – both volume and revaluation of its value.”
“In 1998, the lack of sufficient international reserves was one of the causes of the crisis that ended in default for Russia. Now Russia has large gold and foreign exchange reserves, ranking 5th in the world (after China, Japan, Switzerland & India) and ahead of the US, but this is not enough.”
“Russia through a well-organized global ‘gold rush’ can increase gold production from 330 tons, 1.5 times, to 500 tons, becoming a world leader in this strategic industry.”
“By ‘bonus’ we will get: a strong ruble, a strong budget and – with the implementation of the strategy of accelerated development – a strong economy.”
Funny business in Berlin, and worse as well>
Perhaps, in the original meaning of “nazi”, when it described a class of loutish low class rogues – easily lead with slogans and petty tricks…perhaps these young fellas are the repeat, the echo… Maybe. Anyway, it seems the fellas went a bit funny in the head>
https://youtu.be/1yUFYckGwuU > “Silvester-Krawalle in Berlin: Massive Ausschreitungen in Berlin-Neukölln zum Jahreswechsel – brennende Barrikaden und Angriffe auf Rettungskräfte und Polizisten – Chaoten liefern sich Straßenschlachten mit der Polizei | Berliner Feuerwehr im…” ( New Year’s Eve riots in Berlin: Massive riots in Berlin-Neukölln at the turn of the year – burning barricades and attacks on rescue workers and police officers – Chaotic people are fighting street battles with the police | Berlin fire brigade in a state of emergency: among other things, burning bus …)
Not to criticize young people having a party… One might suspect that idle people are the Devil’s joyous discovery… “de-industrialization” being a process that tends to feed back upon itself – bringing “de-civilization” … iconoclastic events, arson, murder…gee whiz! Who’d-a’thunk! Schlagwortnazis brennen und schießen auf den Straßen von Berlin…genau wie in alten Zeiten!
Stumpy thinks that weapons from 404, well, hijacked and sold somewhere along the line anyway…will be a welcome addition to the German fellas.
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Makeyevka… sometimes the enemy gets lucky, sometimes it’s not luck, but a darker thing afoot. Some changes in the officer corps is highly likely…wars and armies take time to unify and become rational…and to find the rats… Anyway, South whatever front has pictures.
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Speaking of wunderwaffen…Brother Garland Nixon remarked about 404 and NATO…pointing out, asking, > if 404 was a NATO member, and if all the other members decided to “support” 404 with everything they had, including soldiers, how would it be different? Would the “art 5” business change anything? Thus we see that “art 5” means zilch, nada, zero…it’s a lie.
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@ Anoxia it’s pretty quiet…a brief volley now and then, a desperado arrested once in a while… and since last year coffee costs twice as much. No murders yet, not for a while anyway, but SADS and dope take a toll. It’s warm enough, no frost just now, and wild enough, that the homeless camp in wild places and get some sleep in daytime, but many stay warm at night by walking about, and naturally they have an attitude toward the housed…sometime they just try doors, and, finding one unlocked, just go in…then we hear cop-o-tronic reports…sometimes they just throw rocks.
Best! P
This is why I’ve been saying prep while you can, the end may not seem near, but it is to a great many, and a great many others are not even concerned.
63 Russian soldiers were killed in Makiivka after the strike of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Hate to post this Hell to pay, escalation incoming, imo.
https://dzen.ru/news/story/Minoborony_vMakeevke_pogibli_63_rossijskikh_voennykh_posle_udara_VSU–c09a30bb17253d3e4041a09905a4710c?lang=ru&rubric=index&fan=1&stid=3qd1YMfXhEurnomfUpb5&t=1672676863&tt=true&persistent_id=1258560182&story=f010f280-ec5c-540f-8621-b5688a3c8232&issue_tld=ru
The Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the point of temporary deployment of the Russian military in the Makeevka region in the DPR, killing 63 people, the Ministry of Defense reported.
RIA News
Russian air defense systems shot down two HIMARS rockets.
Vzglyad.ru
As a result of the defeat by four missiles with a high-explosive warhead of a temporary deployment point, 63 Russian servicemen were killed, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
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All the relatives and friends of the dead servicemen will be provided with all the necessary assistance and support, reports the words of Lieutenant General Telegram channel “Russian Ministry of Defense”.
Russian reaction to Makeevka
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11m
The strike in Makeevka caused a strong reaction in Russian society, which forces the Kremlin to reflect on the situation and raise the stakes in the war in Ukraine, as happened with the Crimean bridge in the fall..
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Geo_monitor
@colonelhomsi
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12m
Office of the President of Ukraine and the General Staff fear that the Kremlin has ordered the Russian General Staff to prepare a series of strikes against critical infrastructure and political targets in Kiev!
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Geo_monitor
@colonelhomsi
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23m
It is clear that a demanding internal analysis of what happened is also needed!
Grigory Karasin Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs..
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@colonelhomsi
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24m
It’s time to press our structures to find out by name – who in Kiev, from the command to the executioners, will be responsible for this. It is also important to know who in NATO planned and coordinated this monstrous act of killing the defenders of our Homeland!
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