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World War Three

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Dutch Josh View Drop Down
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    Posted: March 03 2022 at 2:11pm

DJ Both Russia and China did conclude any further talking with the west is pointless. The west does only listen to itself....results; [url]https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/03/disarming-ukraine-day-7.html#comments[/url] or https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/03/disarming-ukraine-day-7.html#comments;

Major doings in the energy field.

First and most important. OPEC+ is standing tall. Nobody is sure if it is politically based or simply that nobody can pump more oil.

OPEC+ Sticks To Production Plan Despite $111 Oil
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/OPEC-Sticks-To-Production-Plan-Despite-111-Oil.html

Next up is as everyone knew, the price of energy is going way up. As stated in the article, in the EU, the price is now in the demand destruction phase.

Europe’s Gas Prices Soar 60% To Record High As Buyers Shun Russia
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Gas-Prices/Europes-Gas-Prices-Soar-60-To-Record-High-As-Buyers-Shun-Russia.html

And Russia is still pumping gas and oil to Europe. We haven't seen anything yet. Are you prepared for a Recession/Depression?

At [url]https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/russia-retaliates-cuts-off-new-rocket-engines-to-u-s-a[/url] or https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/russia-retaliates-cuts-off-new-rocket-engines-to-u-s-a ;

 UPDATED 2:47 PM EST --

GAS SUPPLIES FROM POLAND TO GERMANY VIA THE YAMAL-EUROPE PIPELINE HAVE CEASED.  Germany shut-down the approval process for the NordStream-2 gas pipeline from Russia, now Germany gets no gas at all, from Russia.

 RUMOR: Next ultimatum, if Berlin has money to cancel Ukraine's debts and host who-knows-how-many Ukrops (Ukraine Nazis), then Germany must pay up costs for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline they just cancled, or say BYE BYE to Nord stream 1 gas supply as well.   Again, just a RUMOR.

 

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warns the West against "further escalation" with Moscow

 

UPDATE 3:25 PM EST --

Severstal decided to completely stop the supply of steel to the EU countries.  No more Russian steel for Europe!

MORE:

Oil supply to the US is now cut off.   

DJ; All out energy war....

[url]https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/china-warns-u-s-will-turn-your-military-to-scrap-iron[/url] or https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/china-warns-u-s-will-turn-your-military-to-scrap-iron ; The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a televised "warning" to the United States today, saying that if we continue to send ships through the Taiwan Strait, and encourage Taiwan Independence, our military deterrent "will be turned into scrap iron."

DJ, Most of the world sees NATO moving east as the cause of the present Ukraine crisis...even with very clear warnings/red lines by Russia NOT to include Ukraine in NATO the US keeps pushing that agenda...with EU countries sending weapons into Ukraine (by doing so becoming a "party" in the conflict). 

China, Turkey would like to work towards a compromise. The US is blocking that.

On top of that the US has plans for nuclear weapons in Japan, keeps sending all kinds of delegetions to Taiwan...de facto breaking the "One China policy"...US supports Japan claims on the Kuril islands-under Russian control since the end of world war two...(US agreed then...but recently send a US submarine in the area...claiming it was in Japanese waters-Russia used deep water explosives to chase the sub out of the Russian waters...). 

[url]https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/mariupol-nazis-under-siege-from-russian-forces-azov-nazi-regiment-being-hit-hard[/url] or https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/mariupol-nazis-under-siege-from-russian-forces-azov-nazi-regiment-being-hit-hard ;

11:41 AM EST -- RUSSIAN FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE CHIEF SAYS FOR US THIS IS NO LONGER COLD WAR WITH THE WEST BUT HOT WAR

During a meeting with Russian President Putin, Sergei Naryshkyn told President Putin things with the West are going to get very much worse - hot war is now "likely."

DJ [url]https://liveuamap.com/[/url] or https://liveuamap.com/  Russia trying to get all of the Ukraine Black Sea coast under its control...Since talks with Kiev do not bring-fast enough-the results Russia wants..Poland keeps sending in NATO supplies. Russia now going "hard"...all parts of Ukraine with a major Russian ethnic population will be included in Russia...(most of it allready under Russian control...)...

Russia will attack and destroy further NATO transports of weapons...

DJ; Russia stopping-in reaction to western sanctions/stupidity-now ALL essential exports to the west....

China is backing Russia...fed up with US agression in East Asia...

Outlook is BAD !!!


We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
~Albert Einstein
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 03 2022 at 4:01pm


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...hree-days.html


"Vladimir Putin has today branded Ukrainians 'extreme gangsters', claimed their army is using civilians as 'human shields', hailed his soldiers as heroes who are fighting to save innocent lives and said his invasion is going exactly to plan and schedule in a stunning act of hypocrisy and outright denial.

The Russian leader, who eight days ago declared all-out war against Ukraine in a bid to topple its elected government and reunify it with Russia by force, denied that his troops are deliberately targeting civilians - despite reams of evidence to the contrary - and instead blamed 'neo-Nazis' holding citizens hostage."

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Eric Feigl-Ding 💙💛@DrEricDing·5mDamn— Fire 🔥 reported at the nuclear ☢️ power plant in Zaporozhye Ukraine 🇺🇦— one of the largest nuclear power plants in the world (a top 10!). I was just talking to a colleague about this today🤦🏻‍♂️. Hope 🇷🇺 leaders realize shelling a nuclear plant is NOT in their own interest!Quote TweetNEXTA@nexta_tv · 25m⚡️⚡️⚡️As a result of the shelling at the #Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, a fire started. The exact location of the fire is being specified. CCTV cameras at the plant show flames and smoke.Show this thread1185153

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I saw a newspaper article today that said that Germany supported financial sanctions against Russia but didn't want there to be any sanctions on oil or gas!!!! It would make life to inconvenient for the German people and would be a very unpopular political decision. 

How very selective they are!

Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 03 2022 at 8:44pm

KiwiMum; the "west' excluded Gazprom-bank from SWIFT sanctions....

DJ-It is my impression "the west" (most of Europe following the US...blindly...the EU, UK have their own position and responsibility...It is totally insane Europe seems to take "US orders"!  Again-if a friend does something very stupid-you do not encourage it but have to trop to stop it....)

The US...victoria nuland...after telling the EU "f.ck the EU" several years back...in fact did have the same "F" words for both Russia and Ukraine....Russia did put a very clear "Red"line not to be crossed...If the US can put Red-lines-not to be crossed, so can any other country...When that red line gets crossed the country putting that red-line has to (re)act...

For that matter linking an "action" US/UK supporting Ukraine to become a NATO member" to a "reaction"...Russia has to accept it or stop ir...may have been unwise...If Russia had choosen to put the "energy-weapon" in action instead of invading Ukraine it maybe would have less PR-damage (in the west) for Russia...

YES ! Russia did invade, start a war, in Ukraine...no one should deny that...I wonder what kind of promisses the Ukraine believed it did get from the west when it went on "joining NATO", after the Munich security conference Zelinsky even starting "Ukraine needs nuclear weapons"....By now most Ukrainians may regret to have had a government going the NATO road....feel "F.ck the Ukraine" by lack of actions...

The US hoped to push Ukraine under the Russian bus...resulting in the EU breaking up EurAsian trade ideas...so "limit" Russia, China...The US did get that reaction...western media going full propaganda...Some western idiots going for "unseen violence by Russia"...making me wonder how limited their memories are...Raqqa was bad...way worse...Iraq was worse...

If that was all of the story...yeah US won !....

But...

Of course...

It is not !!!!

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
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DJ, Hal Turner does publish a lot of non-sense...however this is not;

Russia Returns to Gold Standard - Government to Remove VAT (Tax) on Bullion. This bill will be submitted to the State Duma on March 4. . . .

Hal Turner Editorial Remarks

In one fell swoop, Russia just made the Russian Ruble the single most stable currency in the entire world.  

Moreover, they just fucked the US Dollar and the EURO so badly, neither currency is likely to survive.

Nobody around the world will favor a US dollar, backed by nothing, from a nation $30 TRILLION in debt, versus a gold-backed Ruble.

Russia just completely SMASHED the United States and the EUROZONE.

Think I'm kidding?   Think again.

When Muammar Qaddafi in Libya planned on a Gold-backed currency for all of Africa, the West went into Libya and overthrew him.

When Saddam Hussein in Iraq announced he would start selling oil in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar, two months later was Iraq War 2 - and they hung him!

The U.S. Dollar being the sole reserve currency for this planet is why wars get waged, and now Russia has completely, totally smashed it.

You watch.  The U.S. that has been saying "no nuclear war" and even Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin saying yesterday "All this talk of nuclear war is dangerous, stop it" is going to change almost overnight.  The US is now in an existential crisis.  Our currency has just been utterly smashed by Russia's decision to back the Ruble with Gold.

Watch the rhetoric about Russia from this moment on.  You will notice it is ratcheted-up to vilification like you've never seen before.   Why, they'll probably start accusing Russian troops of throwing babies out of incubators in Ukraine hospitals (like they accused Iraq) in order to justify going to war with Russia.

In my personal opinion, war with Russia is now a foregone conclusion.   The US and Europe have no choice.   If the Dollar and the EURO are to survive, Russia must be killed.

I hope you prepped. Food, water, medicine, etc.

Now get right with God.  I mean it.  The shit is about to hit the fan so badly, we'll be lucky to live through it.

DJ-Hal Turner did make extremists writings...going much to far...I see myself as "rather left wing" a lot of his followers "do not like most of my ideas" (to put it very mild...)

Somehow "the west" had the bizarre idea Russia still would need the $ and €...so would keep selling oil, gas, copper, grain to countries that claim the Russian leadership has gone crazy...simply stick to a story of "Russian agression" without linking NATO expansion with it...

The "West" however did not only cross a Russian "red line"....Putin and Xi (China) did have a personal meeting at the start of the winter olympics in Bejing. China and Russia did go for further "strategic cooperation" both facing in many ways "the same problems"....

DJ-I think Russia may be willing to sell it's oil and gas...maybe via Iran...[url]https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/03/02/677850/Russia-Lavrov-Ukraine[/url] or https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/03/02/677850/Russia-Lavrov-Ukraine ;

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that if a third World War were to take place, it would involve nuclear weapons.

Commenting on Russia's operation inside Ukraine, the foreign minister told Tass news agency on Wednesday that Russia would face a "real danger" if Kiev acquired nuclear weapons.

Russia will not allow Ukraine to obtain the weaponry, the top Russian diplomat said, adding that the ongoing special operation aims to keep Ukraine away from such a scenario.

Moscow has already demanded assurances that NATO will refrain from stationing troops near its borders and deploying missiles and nuclear weapons.

DJ, The US did block "press.tv".so now it did become "presstv.ir"...the US is now blocking-even from most internet browsers RT.com, Sputnik etc...(high time for me to dump google...)

China

[url]https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/china-to-makes-its-move-against-taiwan-says-us-nukes-must-leave-s-korea[/url] or https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/china-to-makes-its-move-against-taiwan-says-us-nukes-must-leave-s-korea ;

China on Tuesday warned the US that it will pay a "heavy price" for its attempts to show support to Taiwan's independence as a delegation of ex-American defense officials landed in Taipei amid apprehensions that Beijing may attempt action against the self-ruled island akin to Russia's military assault in Ukraine.  Yesterday, China issued a statement saying US Nukes in South Korea are "unacceptable" and it is time for those weapons to be sent home.

Taiwanese media reports said a five-member delegation headed by former US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Admiral (retd) Mullen was received by Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, raising concerns in Beijing over the US efforts to step up its engagement with Taiwan, which China firmly affirms as part of the Chinese mainland. 

-

Hal Turner Editorial Opinion

What's going to happen when China completely cuts off the US?

When 260 million Americans can no longer get their prescription medications because the raw materials for those medications come from China...

When 85+% of electronics are no longer available...

When 75+% of automotive parts are no longer available...

When 80+% of medical supplies are no longer available...

We in the US are COMPLETELY screwed, we hardly make anything any longer.

It is important to note that the reason we don't make anything here anymore is all those folks who, for years, talked-up "Free Trade."   They told us that removing Tariffs on foreign-made goods would cause foreign countries to remove Tariff's on American-made goods, thereby increasing sales and creating jobs here in America.   We bought their talk and went the "Free trade" route.

What we didn't realize was that the "Free Trade" crowd had no intention at all of being able to sell to other countries; what they REALLY wanted was to move manufacturing jobs OUT of America, use cheap labor in third world countries, then ship the same products back here to America tariff-free.  The money they saved by using cheap, third-world labor, went in their pockets as additional profit.

The only thing "free trade" got America was complete destruction of our manufacturing, and grotesque outflow of American consumer dollars to foreign nations.

Now that we __may__ be facing a World War 3 situation with Russia and China, we find ourselves with no manufacturing base to support a war, and little to no raw materials, either.

The "Free Trade" crowd got us here.   The nation will be lucky to even survive if actual war breaks out.

DJ...Russia does not want NATO, nuclear weapons closer to its borders...China does NOT accept any nuclear (US or other-non friendly) weapons near its borders...

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction ;

South Korea has the raw materials and equipment to produce a nuclear weapon but has not opted to make one.[1] In August 2004, South Korea revealed the extent of its highly secretive and sensitive nuclear research programs to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), including some experiments which were conducted without the obligatory reporting to the IAEA called for by South Korea's safeguards agreement.[2] The failure to report was reported by the IAEA Secretariat to the IAEA Board of Governors;[3] however, the IAEA Board of Governors decided to not make a formal finding of noncompliance.[4] If the South created nuclear weapons it could change the balance of power on the Korean Peninsula. However, South Korea has continued on a stated policy of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and has adopted a policy to maintain a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

and  [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction#American_nuclear_weapons_in_South_Korea[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction#American_nuclear_weapons_in_South_Korea ;

The US first deployed nuclear weapons to South Korea in 1958,[14] and numbers peaked in the late 1960s at close to 950, including a mix of tactical and strategic weapons.[15][16]

Following its accession to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1985, the government of North Korea had cited the presence of US tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea as a reason to avoid completing a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.[17] In 1991, President George H W Bush announced the withdrawal of all naval and land-based tactical nuclear weapons deployed abroad, including approximately 100 such weapons based in South Korea.[18] In January 1992, the governments of North and South Korea signed a Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and in January 1992, the North concluded a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the IAEA.[17] Implementation meetings for the Joint Declaration took place in 1992 and 1993, but no agreement could be found, so consequently the declaration never entered into force.[19][20]

In 2013, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won rejected calls to again station American tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea.[21]

In 2017, during a period of unusually high tension, the South Korean defence minister suggested it was worth reviewing the redeployment of U.S. nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula.[22]

In 2021, the top People Power Party 2022 presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl stated that he would demand that the United States redeploy tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea.[23]

DJ, Most likely there are NO US nuclear weapons in South Korea...however US Navy ships or Airforce may change that picture...

China put a Red line...no US nuclear weapons near its borders...not in South Korea..not in Japan...not in the South China Sea...

The US must stick to the "One-China" policy (Taiwas as a Bejing province...DJ...Maybe not my choice but part of the [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Communiqu%C3%A9[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Communiqu%C3%A9

The Joint Communiqué of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, also known as the Shanghai Communiqué (1972), was a diplomatic document issued by the United States of America and the People's Republic of China on February 27, 1972, on the last evening of President Richard Nixon's visit to China.[1][2][3]

The document pledged that it was in the interest of all nations for the United States and China to work towards the normalization of their relations, and affirmed a mutual interest in détente

DJ

One of my questions is on the link between North Korea and China...does North Korea try to please China..."the unfriendly face" , leaving China room for diplomacy ? 

Without China there simply would not be a North Korea...China did see 400,000 Chinese soldiers getting killed in the Korean War...however this does NOT bring Bejing is in control in Pyongyang...but there must be some sort of contacts...

In Vladivostok, several years back, Russia, China and North and South Korea did agree on some sort of "route" towards "lasting peace"...Russia, China, South Korea all have economic interests...North Korea has coal, cheap (slave) labor...Besides that they all HATE Japan...In World War Two Japan killed millions of Koreans and Chinese...hundreds of thousends of Russians living in the North of China...(there are several borderdisputes with Japan...for all three/four (Russia, China Korea's) "there is no sense of friendship" towards Japan (the US-again-may be blind for that...)

Both Russia and China will NOT tolerate US weapons near their borders...neither will they both accept any further US expansionism near their borders or sabotage of EurAsian trade....

DJ....They both MEAN IT !!!!!

They do NOT joke !!!

The US idea of "US exceptionalism" is a dangerous mistake....NO=NO !

Both Russia and China did prepare for major war...(so did North Korea, Iran...). 

If the US wants war it can get war...

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
~Albert Einstein
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 03 2022 at 10:23pm

(part 3 ?)

So where are we now ? 

The US tried to stop Ukraine having talks with Russia...The US wanted the Ukraine government to move to Lviv-Western Ukraine...but the Ukraine government stayed in Kiev...Did go for talks with Russia...

I think Ukraine must feel betrayed by "the West"...they did what "the West" asked them to do...but when the problems start it is not the West who is there to offer help...

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor ;

The Holodomor (UkrainianГолодомо́рromanizedHolodomorIPA: [ɦolodoˈmɔr];[2] derived from морити голодомmoryty holodom, 'to kill by starvation'),[a][3][4][5] also known as the Terror-Famine[6][7][8] or the Great Famine,[9] was a famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. It was a large part of the wider Soviet famine of 1932–1933. The term Holodomor emphasises the famine's man-made and allegedly intentional aspects such as rejection of outside aid, confiscation of all household foodstuffs and restriction of population movement. As part of the wider Soviet famine of 1932–1933 which affected the major grain-producing areas of the country, millions of inhabitants of Ukraine, the majority of whom were ethnic Ukrainians, died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of Ukraine.[10] Since 2006, the Holodomor has been recognized by Ukraine[11] and 15 other countries as a genocide of the Ukrainian people carried out by the Soviet government.[12]

Early estimates of the death toll by scholars and government officials varied greatly.[13]United Nations joint statement signed by 25 countries in 2003 declared that 7–10 million perished.[14] Current scholarship estimates a range of 4 to 7 million victims,[15] with more precise estimates ranging from 3.3[16] to 5 million.[17] According to the findings of the Court of Appeal of Kyiv in 2010, the demographic losses due to the famine amounted to 10 million, with 3.9 million direct famine deaths, and a further 6.1 million birth deficits.[18]

Whether the Holodomor was genocide is still the subject of academic debate, as are the causes of the famine and intentionality of the deaths.[19][20][21] Some scholars believe that the famine was planned by Joseph Stalin to eliminate a Ukrainian independence movement.[10][22] Others suggest that the man-made famine was a consequence of Soviet industrialisation.[23][24][25]

DJ, Like Korea, China have lots of reasons for hating Japan...so does Ukraine have lots of reasons for hating Russia...(t however is "interlinked" with Russian history [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Rus%27[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Rus%27Kievan Rus' or Kyivan Rus' (Old East SlavicРоусьromanized: Rusĭ, or роусьскаѧ землѧromanized: rusĭskaę zemlę, "Rus' land"),[2][3] was a loose federation of East SlavicBaltic, and Finnic peoples in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century,[4][5] under the reign of the Rurik dynasty, founded by the Varangian prince Rurik.[5] The modern nations of BelarusRussia, and Ukraine all claim Kievan Rus' as their cultural ancestors,[6] with Belarus and Russia deriving their names from it. The Rurik dynasty would continue to rule parts of Rus' until the 16th century with the establishment of the Tsardom of Russia.[7] At its greatest extent, in the mid-11th century, it stretched from the White Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south and from the headwaters of the Vistula in the west to the Taman Peninsula in the east,[8][9] uniting the majority of East Slavic tribes.[

DJ, both Ukraine and Russia have an "orthodox christian church" ...Turkey, the Ottoman Empire in history has been a "joined enemy"...

Still-while also fighting-Ukraine and Russia are also talking...

Each day longer Kiev needs to accept the Russian terms the price may go up...Crimea...most likely to Donbas (Don river delta) will become part of Russia...Ukraine is not in a position to stop that. The West allready went "full sanctions" has not that many other options left...may regret the sanctions even...it did NOT break Russia (for that matter the sanctions idea show a total lack of realism...Russia is a very major country, rich of things lots of others want to buy...Russia has very many borders and strong military to secure its trade...). 

If Kiev/Ukraine takes to long to make up its mind maybe ALL of ethnic Russian Ukraine may "choose" to join Russia...(one of the reasons why Russia was able to get some parts of Ukraine under its control may be lots of ethnic Russians do welcome Russian protection...a fact the West simply ignores...Some Ukraine extremists were trying to kill as many Russians as they could get away with...). 

Most likely ALL of Ukraine Black Sea coast will be taken over by Russia. Ukraine may not be allowed to become a risk for Russia...So if there will remain an "Ukraine" it will be a much smaller one...

[url]https://liveuamap.com/en/2022/3-march-based-on-information-available-the-command-of-a-unit[/url] or https://liveuamap.com/en/2022/3-march-based-on-information-available-the-command-of-a-unit

Based on "information available", the command of a unit of Belarusian paratroopers has received an order to cross the border into Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian update on Russia's invasion. A combat order would be made after the crossing, it said, without giving dates

DJ, Belarus will stop any transports coming in from the west. Most likely even "humanitarian" because "the West" so far did also claim it would be increasing the number of weapons in the area...(DJ-The best number of weapons inside in Ukraine would be "zero"...stop the war !).

Both China and Turkey will be "partners" in Russian-Ukraine talks. Both countries may welcome a "neutral status" for Ukraine...it would fit in both their plans...A neutral Ukraine can be a partner in TIP-Turkey Iran Pakistan [url]https://www.dailysabah.com/business/transportation/1st-train-in-decade-on-pakistan-iran-turkey-route-reaches-ankara[/url] or https://www.dailysabah.com/business/transportation/1st-train-in-decade-on-pakistan-iran-turkey-route-reaches-ankara

"Thus, with the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul train, a new railway corridor will be provided to our exporters in the south of Asia – which has the highest population density globally – reaching Pakistan, neighboring India, China, Afghanistan and Iran. In this way, our country will be one step closer to its goals of becoming a bridge and logistics base between Asia and Europe," Karaismailoğlu added.

Speaking at the ceremony, Qureshi highlighted that the ITI train would play an important role in enhancing regional connectivity and promoting economic and commercial activities in the ECO (Economic Cooperation Organization) region. Iran, Pakistan and Turkey established the Regional Cooperation for Development organization in 1964, renaming it the ECO in 1985.

Qureshi added that the train would offer Pakistan an opportunity to further increase its exports and strengthen its connectivity with international markets, including in Europe.

DJ...somehow "the West" seems to be totally blind for developments outside "that West"...TIP (Turkey, Iran, Pakistan) may become "a partner" as well for Afghanistan...

So...

The choice Ukraine now has to make is;

-will it go on trying to become a member of NATO, EU...knowing Russia will not accept that...

-or is Ukraine willing to accept a (most likely joined) China-Turkey alternative ? Wich could result in Ukraine at least keeping some access to the Black Sea...

DJ

-in the military conflict Ukraine never had a realistic chance..."the West" was good in empty words and acting stupid...

-in the economic conflict Ukraine has not that much to expect from the EU/NATO...more conflicts...US military bases...EurAsian alternatives may look better...

-in the diplomatic front it is the "west" that is isolated...maybe unable to realize how isolated and dependent it is...

I expect "the West" may be in for a shock....Global energy trade may dump the US$ (and NOT go for the Euro/€)...The West still may be able "to buy" some energy...at much higher prices... Russia-Iran-China (RIC) may have decided it is time to show who did get in a dominant position...

The "West" to its total horror may find out they are no longer "exceptional" or "dominant"....but may have put themselves by now in a position they have to beg to be included in global trade...with others making the rules....

DJ-It is time that "we" in the West, realized what our position is, how the global economy works...WE are no longer in control !

 We may not like it...if we try to fight it...no chance...we "only" have to deal with it...and we by now should know "our leaders failed us"....

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
~Albert Einstein
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 03 2022 at 11:30pm

part 4

Outcomes;

-Not only energy but all products will get (much) more expensive...[url]https://nltimes.nl/2022/03/02/experts-netherlands-can-make-quick-changes-get-russian-gas[/url] or https://nltimes.nl/2022/03/02/experts-netherlands-can-make-quick-changes-get-russian-gas ;

With relatively simple measures, the Netherlands can cut between half and all of its annual demand for Russian gas within a year, the Dutch Association for Sustainable Energy (NVDE) said. According to the association, this can be achieved with thermal insulation in industry, by better regulating heating installations at companies, institutions, and households, and by replacing companies' fluorescent lights with LEDs. 

Around 6,000 companies are affiliated with the association for entrepreneurs in sustainable energy, including energy companies and network operators.


The NVDE's package of short-term measures could cut the use of 4.7 billion cubic meters of gas this year. According to the NVDE, the Netherlands consumes between 5 billion and 8 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually, depending on the calculation methods.

The association listed many advantages to investing more into sustainability now. It will make the Netherlands energy independent more quickly, and we will stop financing Russia's war machine. In addition, energy costs for consumers and private individuals will decrease due to lower consumption on the one hand and lower demand on the other. And we'll make good progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the association said.


According to the NVDE, the measures can reduce gas consumption by more than 10 billion cubic meters within four years. That amounts to 20 megatonnes of CO2 emissions that won't happen, slightly less than a fifth of the total CO2 reduction in the climate goals

DJ...NL however is in a rather good position...We still have (limited) oil and gas (not only in the north of NL also a.o. in the North Sea...)

Lots of European countries have their own oil, gas, coal...exploitation was not bringing any profit with low prices...But when prices go up both the US/Canada and UK/EU will restart their own energy exploration further...

DJ-Let me be very clear...it was beyond insane to get that dependent on Russian energy if you do not like Russia for the rest...Also getting very dependent on "Arab Oil" was found to be "unwise" [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis ;The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries led by Saudi Arabia proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War.[1] The initial nations targeted were Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States with the embargo also later extended to Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa. By the end of the embargo in March 1974,[2] the price of oil had risen nearly 300%, from US$3 per barrel ($19/m3) to nearly $12 per barrel ($75/m3) globally; US prices were significantly higher. The embargo caused an oil crisis, or "shock", with many short- and long-term effects on global politics and the global economy.[3] It was later called the "first oil shock", followed by the 1979 oil crisis, termed the "second oil shock".

the present price may be over 100 US$ per barrel...

-Hyperinflation...RIC and many others may no longer accept payment in dollars or euro's...(the EU did ruin that option in just one week of utter stupidity !!!)...Many western currencies will "face a shock"....Some estimates for the US$-very speculative-may suggest the "buying power" of a US$ to sink to 20-30% soon of its buying power untill recent....

However the value of currencies is-to a high degree linked with trust in (political, economic) leadership....future perspectives...

The faster "the West" realizes they are NOT !!! in a position to make demands, the better "damage can be limited"...For that matter the Euro is in a different position-less a "financial weapon" then the US$...However if Russia, China, India etc. would "hijack" the Euro for their international trade-de facto-the European Central Bank may become marginalized...Russia, China, India decide on the value of the Euro in that scenario....

The Euro allready is the second largest global used currency after the US$...it may be useable in trade between Asia, Africa, the America's...

(A psychological aspect could be giving the EU the impression they still matter...They may matter if they had wise leaders...). 

Still NOT getting it, not understanding of the West they started this crisis...simply in denial...could result in the West paying an even higher price...

Countries kept poor by that West may benefit...China is a major investor in both Africa and Latin America (mainly in oil/gas...Angola, Venezuela...however also infrastructure Kenya rail link [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mombasa%E2%80%93Nairobi_Standard_Gauge_Railway[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mombasa%E2%80%93Nairobi_Standard_Gauge_Railway ;

 

At a cost of US$3.6 billion, the SGR is Kenya's most expensive infrastructure project since independence. The prime contractor was the China Road & Bridge Corporation CRBC, which hired 25,000 Kenyans to work on the railway. CRBC's holding company, China Communications Construction Company is contracted to operate the line for its first five years.[5]

An extension from Nairobi to Suswa was completed in October 2019 extending the line's length to approximately 578.8 kilometres (359.6 mi).

to [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_Canal[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_Canal (but why build a new Nicaragua Canal when you can get control over the [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal )

China allready is a very major global player in infra structure. But also Russia [url]https://uic.org/com/enews/nr/665/article/russia-russian-railways-rdif-and-saudi-railway-company-agree-on-cooperation?page=modal_enews[/url] or https://uic.org/com/enews/nr/665/article/russia-russian-railways-rdif-and-saudi-railway-company-agree-on-cooperation?page=modal_enews

The Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Russian Railways Oleg Belozorov, the CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev and the CEO of Saudi Railway (SAR) Company Bashar al-Malik signed a cooperation agreement on 14 October 2019 in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

The agreement is aimed at the joint expansion of SAR’s rail network and projects related to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 Programme, including the supply of rail products.
The parties will also consider the possibility of supplying Russian systems for train regulation and safety, as well as training and instructing railway specialists from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Russia.

"Today there are favorable preconditions for establishing close cooperation between our countries in the field of rail transport. Taking into account the extensive experience of the Russian Railways Holding in the construction of railway infrastructure, I would like to given an assurance that we are ready to offer the Saudi side all our experience, progress and technologies in a long-term partnership and to implement everything in Saudi Arabia," said Oleg Belozorov, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Russian Railways.

is involved in major projects...Was the "West" blind or so ???

-Freedoms...

The US did block/hijack press.tv from Iran...google stopped a.o. RT.com...denying the western population to make up their own minds...Of course Iran Russia use it-also-for propaganda...but also for making clear its points of view...On the other side "western embedded media" have become an insult to the "freedom of press" !

The role of media is to be part of controlling governments...not to become a government tool ! 

If we want a "Free Press" in the West we may have to restart it...some "alternative media" did good jobs...MSM did become an insult for freedom of information !!!

"News for sale", going for advertising value only ...doing favors to politicians in exchange for "juicy news" is NOT FREE PRESS !!!! It is a form of "presstitution"...an insult to democracy becoming democrazy !!!

Tulsi Gabbard 🌺@TulsiGabbard·20h

The notion we must blindly accept & follow as truth, that which the government or those in power tell us is true, goes against the very essence of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Watch the full speech here: https://youtu.be/EOJB_IUB5ko

DJ...this gets personal...I was raised under religious totalitarianism....got damaged for life...If the western public only wants disinformation, "bread and games"...it does not go for democracy...

During the nazi-terror lots of people did know what was happening...but failed to act...Today's total hysteria in the media...people following blindly "insane leaders" reminds me of those terrible days...

Ukraine using untrained citizens against tanks is a form of "heroïsm" ? Western countries sending volunteers to "fight Russia"...while also claiming the want peace...Have we gone totally mad !!!

-leadership...If leaders only lead to war and destruction they are NOT the leaders you want or need ! How did we end up with such idiots !!!

If the US voters have to make a choice between "democrats" wanting war with Russia or "republicans" going for war with China there is something very very wrong !!!

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
~Albert Einstein

Time for change !

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
~Albert Einstein
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Since this is major...

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pom3XBx3WU[/url] or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pom3XBx3WU Alexander Mercouris (AM) on the present situation...

-Macron (President of France, hoping to get re-elected this april) may be the only western leader Putin may be willing to talk to. Macron=Putin phone call lasted 90 minutes

-Modi (India) asked Putin to do what he could do for India students "held hostage" by Ukraine "nationalists" in Charkov...

[url]https://www.rt.com/news/551187-us-sanctions-india-russian-weapons/[/url] or https://www.rt.com/news/551187-us-sanctions-india-russian-weapons/ DJ-In a return to realism google may have realized kicking out Russian news outlets would damage google...Lots of people will try to find alternatives not going for censorship...

Washington is looking at the possibility of sanctioning India over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian weapons, a senior State Department official has told Congress. The US is also pushing India to disavow Moscow over the current conflict in Ukraine.

President Joe Biden is “looking very closely” at whether to implement or waive the sanctions on countries that buy Russian military hardware, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Donald Lu told the Senate.

India recently bought S-400 air defense systems from Moscow, running afoul of a 2017 US law called Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), passed in response to allegations of Russian meddling in US elections. 

DJ...Russia is a main weapon producer...Its weapons by some views do "better" at much lower costs...a.o. Arab states did show interest...(will the US sanction Saudi Arabia if it buys Russian weapons ? Arab oil producers/OPEC now often "balance" with "NOPEC"...Russia being #1 Non Organized Petrol Exporting Country...

AM also describing the Russian (Putin/Lavrov) view of the present "situation"...in the Russian view NApoleon, NAzi's invaded Russia...now NAto is almost doing the same thing...(most Russians may share that view...for that matter most of the non-western world...)

Zelensky in interviews looking exhausted...had also talks with Lukashenko (Belarus dictator...) and Macron (France)...DJ-AM his story makes me wonder if Zelensky still is de facto in power...

Russia want talks with Ukraine...for the moment not take over Kiev...Russia going for a mix of war and diplomacy...Lavrov expecting "the west may come to its senses"...

Most likely there is also some communication between Ukraine and China (but-as a reminder; China does not want Ukraine in NATO either...). 

DJ...Maybe Macron does dream of him shaking hands in Paris with both Zelenski and Putin...getting some form of "peace" before the French presidential elections...Macron could use a succes...One possibility could be Ukraine can join "a EU" (after reforms...the present EU totally derailed the last days...) but not NATO...maybe Ukraine may be willing to accept such a deal...it may be the best-by far-they may dream of...

[url]https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/russian-firms-rush-open-accounts-chinese-banks-ruble-tumbles[/url] or https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/russian-firms-rush-open-accounts-chinese-banks-ruble-tumbles for the rest "the West" further increasing Russia-China cooperation...

AM also mentions "military hardware for Ukraine" being stockpiled in South East Poland...not going anywhere...DJ-The EU going to use tax money for military crap countries want to get rid...Poland may have an enviromental problem extra...leaking tanks, cars/vans etc...Countries will not give away the best they have...Another chance for corruption...insane !

DJ EU foreign relations/former Brexit person [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josep_Borrell[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josep_Borrell  came up with the insane idea of Eastern Europe collecting aircraft for Ukraine...That idea did not survive the legal argument that sending in those planes would bring countries in war with Russia...(article 5 NATO is "defensive" so sending all kinds of weapons into a country at war goes against all kind of international laws...)

[url]https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2022-03-03/swift-ban-game-changer-russia[/url] or https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2022-03-03/swift-ban-game-changer-russia DJ, I am looking for further confirmation of Russia; stopping oil/gas export to (some) Western countries and Russia going for cold to back the [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_ruble[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_ruble ...Russia and China will be coordinating their strategies...

No doubt "Russian propaganda" [url]https://mobile.twitter.com/realpepeescobar[/url] or https://mobile.twitter.com/realpepeescobar 

South Korea wants to keep exporting to Russia without having to face Western sanctions. Samsung wants to INCREASE ITS MARKET SHARE in Russia. The "United" Sanctions Front is already collapsing.

-

Stupidistan-ordered sanction/"isolation" of Russia may lead to 60% of German manufacturing - and 70% of Italian - to SHUT DOWN. For good. Europeans can't see this is an imperial war against them because ALL their "elites" are bought.

-








#IMPORTANT#Ukraine|ian #Nazi brigades in #Mariupol#Donbass stop civilians attempting to evacuate and execute them at #UA checkpoints. #CAUTION—Very graphic images. #Azov Nazi Battalion/Regiment.

DJ...[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azov_Battalion[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azov_Battalion ; Azov Special Operations Detachment (UkrainianОкремий загін спеціального призначення «Азов»romanizedOkremyi zahin spetsialnoho pryznachennia "Azov"), often known as Azov DetachmentAzov Regiment (UkrainianПолк АзовromanizedPolk Azov), or Azov Battalion (until September 2014), is a right-wing extremist[1] and neo-Nazi[2][3][4] unit of the National Guard of Ukraine,[5][6][7] based in Mariupol, in the Azov Sea coastal region.[8]

"We" are now supporting this scum....there has been a lot of reports of terror by these criminals...Russia will kill them...(but what is wrong with "the west" supporting-again-terrorists...like we did support IS, al quaida a.o. in Syria...is this our "democracy"????)

work in progres

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 04 2022 at 2:34am
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham has called on Russians to assassinate Vladimir Putin, Julius Caesar-style.
  • "Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?" Graham tweeted.
  • Graham echoed Fox News host Sean Hannity, who this week called for Putin to be assassinated.
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Sen. Lindsay Graham, calls for someone in Russia to "take out" Vladimir Putin. pic.twitter.com/zdwG1xYplv

— In Context (@incontextmedia) March 4, 2022

Commenting on the remarks, Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov called them “unacceptable and outrageous.” He said it showed that “Russophobia and hatred in the United States towards Russia” had gone off-scale and asserted that Graham was de facto advocating an act of terrorism to further Washington’s political goals. 

Moscow was fearful for the future of the American nation, considering that people like the senator are at its helm, the Russian diplomat added.

Attempts to kill foreign leaders are not unheard of in US foreign policy. Cuba’s revolutionary leader Fidel Castro was arguably the most famous example. He was targeted by multiple plots hatched by the CIA, as revealed by the Church Committee in the 1970s.

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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky survives three assassination attempts in the last week: report

Assassins have tried to kill Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at least three times since Russia invaded his country last week, a new report said.

The assassination plots were foiled when anti-war Russians fed intel to Ukraine about two separate mercenary groups that planned to launch the attacks, the Times of London reported.

“I can say that we have received information from [Russia’s Federal Security Service], who do not want to take part in this bloody war,” Ukraine Secretary of National Security and Defence told local TV stations, according to the Times.

The shadowy Kremlin-backed Wagner Group was behind two of the attempts, the Times reported. If they had been or are successful, Moscow could deny direct involvement in the assassination plot.


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Russian citizens reportedly flee country over fears of Putin's martial law announcement

Russian citizens have reportedly started to flee the country ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s rumored announcement of martial law

Earlier this week, Russia’s official censorship body issued guidance telling news networks to use only "trusted" sources under penalty of closure, which led to the shutdown of two independent news networks, including Dozhd TV – known in English as Rain TV. 

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Russian businessman puts up $1 million bounty for arrest of Vladimir Putin

Putin is rumored to be considering declaring martial law in Russia

A Russian-born businessman is willing to pay $1 million to officers who arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin amid his invasion into Ukraine.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 04 2022 at 3:01am
Ukraine has been trying to join the EU. That's their decision. Ukraine is a democracy that can do what they want. And here's a quick refresher on what Russia "fears".
Quote Tweet







The Dude

@iDudeness
 · 
Replying to @TulsiGabbard
Yeah right, the little blue area is threatening the security of the area in red. Are you high?


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DJ, The Ukraine War needs to be viewed in a wider perspective;

[url]https://www.debka.com/bennett-on-secret-mission-to-moscow-for-talks-with-putin-in-sync-with-us/[/url] or https://www.debka.com/bennett-on-secret-mission-to-moscow-for-talks-with-putin-in-sync-with-us/

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett flew secretly to Moscow on Saturday, March 5, and held three hours of conversation with President Vladimir Putin. The trip was coordinated with Washington. No readouts on the conversation were released. With the prime minister were close advisers and Russian-speaking Housing Minister Zeev Elkin as interpreter.

Bennett then phoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and on the way home, stopped over in Berlin for a follow-up meeting with German Chancellor Scholtz, who visited Jerusalem last Wednesday.


DEBKAfile’s sources: The prime minister finds himself cast in the role of middleman – not just on the single Putin-Zelensky track but between Moscow, Washington and Europe on the fate of the Ukraine War – and another issue too, the upcoming nuclear deal with Iran in Vienna.


On Saturday, Russia presented a new condition for a revival of the Iran nuclear deal: A US guarantee that the sanctions imposed on Moscow for invading Ukraine won’t be applied to Russian trade and investment with Iran. Iranian officials strongly denounced the Russian demand as threatening to derail talks to restore the 2015 deal that was on the verge of being signed early next week – in service to Israel’s interests.

DJ; Netanyahu was a special guest-often-had (very) close relations with Putin...and did manage to keep also good, effective links with both the US and EU. 

From the Russian side ; [url]https://www.rt.com/russia/551331-putin-bennett-scholz-zelensky/[/url] or https://www.rt.com/russia/551331-putin-bennett-scholz-zelensky/

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Saturday to discuss Russia’s military conflict with Ukraine.

Bennett – a religious Jew who previously called Putin a “true friend” of the Jewish people – broke Sabbath to travel to Moscow for the meeting, though a spokesperson told Reuters that the violation was permissible as the meeting was with the aim to preserve human life.

Bennett reportedly spoke with Putin for three hours, during which the Israeli prime minister raised “the issue of the large Jewish community caught up in the war in Ukraine.”

The two leaders also reportedly discussed the Iran nuclear deal.

Following the meeting, Bennett traveled to Germany for a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, before returning to Israel.

-

Israel voted this week in favor of a United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s “aggression against Ukraine,” despite the country initially taking a more neutral stance.

Russia summoned Israel’s ambassador to Moscow last week to explain Israel’s position on the conflict after Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid accused Moscow of engaging in “a grave violation of the international order.”

The Kremlin claims the February 24 attack was launched with the purpose of “demilitarization” and “denazification” of the country, and to protect the people of Eastern Ukraine following years of grueling blockade that claimed thousands of lives. Kiev insists the invasion was unprovoked, maintaining it had no plans to retake the break-away Donetsk and Lugansk regions by force.

DJ [url]https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/03/zelensky-and-the-fascists-he-will-hang-on-some-tree-on-khreshchatyk.html[/url] or https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/03/zelensky-and-the-fascists-he-will-hang-on-some-tree-on-khreshchatyk.html

Andriy Biletsky, the proudly fascist Azov Battalion leader who once pledged to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade…against Semite-led Untermenschen”, vowed to bring thousands of fighters to Zolote if Zelensky pressed any further. Meanwhile, a parliamentarian from the party of former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko openly fantasized about Zelensky being blown to bits by a militant’s grenade.

Though Zelensky achieved a minor disengagement, the neo-Nazi paramilitaries escalated their “No Capitulation” campaign. And within months, fighting began to heat up again in Zolote, sparking a new cycle of violations of the Minsk Agreement.

By this point, Azov had been formally incorporated into the Ukrainian military and its street vigilante wing, known as the National Corps, was deployed across the country under the watch of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, and alongside the National Police. In December 2021, Zelensky would be seen delivering a “Hero of Ukraine” award to a leader of the fascistic Right Sector in a ceremony in Ukraine’s parliament.

In "western media" Ukraine defense is presented as "one" and "organized" (even up to nato-standards....DJ-from a history perspective nato and nazi 'sm had/have the same sponsors...We may hate the idea but should not close our eyes for it...Nicholas II of Russia was murdered in 1918, there was allready a military industrial complex in the 19th century...royals and bank joined forces for revenge/take over of Soviet oil and gas...hitler was just a tool...NATO another tool...NATO is NOT defensive but agressive, has not much to do with democracy...if you dive into the history you may be shocked...). 

-So-in reaction to China getting involved "the West" did see Macron (France) making a 90 minutes phone call with Putin, now Bennet Israel PM even visiting Putin...For Israel a "new" Iran-deal may be a major priority...

[url]https://www.rt.com/news/551322-china-blinken-ukraine-call/[/url] or https://www.rt.com/news/551322-china-blinken-ukraine-call/

“China supports all efforts that contribute to de-escalation and political settlement,” the statement read. Wang also told Blinken that the US, NATO, EU and Russia need to “conduct equal dialogues,” particularly with regard to the post-Cold War expansion of NATO into the former Warsaw Pact states, which Moscow considers an unacceptable security threat.

“China opposes any actions that are not conducive to promoting a diplomatic solution but instead fuel the fire and escalate the situation,” the ministry stated.

It is unclear which actions Beijing was referring to, but a number of politicians in the US have recently called for NATO to enforce a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine, a move that would see NATO shoot down Russian planes operating in the area, and would be considered by Moscow to be an act of war. The Ukrainian government has repeatedly called for a no-fly zone.

DJ....Zelensky/Ukraine "may have had reasons to expect more support from the West"....

[url]https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/news-nation/i-am-in-pennsylvania-tonight[/url] or https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/news-nation/i-am-in-pennsylvania-tonight ; After the Israeli PM traveled on a plane -- on the SABBATH -- met with Putin, talked 3 hours, departed . .  and Israel immediately told all their citizens to "leave Russia immediately" I figured we are VERY close to the SHTF. 

DJ, IF !!!!!! and a very big IF that is !!!! NATO would try to "go for a no fly-zone" over Ukraine they first would need to get into Ukraine airspace...Russia can not accept that...IF NATO does not do "more" Zelensky will have to give in to Russian demands...

Most of what is left of the Ukraine defenses is encircled in the east of Ukraine...The main reason why Russia is not in Kiev is that Russia does neither want or need to be in Kiev...Alexander Mercouris [url]https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=alexander+mercouris[/url] or https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=alexander+mercouris keeps reminding that allthough Iraq and Ukraine may have some similarities the US strategy in Iraq 2003 was totally different...Russia wants Ukraine to stay out of NATO...may even accept Zelensky...

In a military sense Ukraine allready lost the war...but western propaganda MoA;

Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism states:

Lambert and I both find this is the worst informational environment either of us have faced, orders of magnitude worse than the war in Iraq, ...

and:

Dear patient readers,

Lambert and I, and many readers, agree that Ukraine has prompted the worst informational environment ever. We hope readers will collaborate in mitigating the fog of war – both real fog and stage fog – in comments. None of us need more cheerleading and link-free repetition of memes; there are platforms for that.

DJ keeps claiming Ukraine "defenses" are still "united and strong"...

One of the problems in Mariapul [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariupol[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariupol is extreme right wing groups (both Ukraine and international neo-nazi's) are terrorizing the population...[url]https://southfront.org/ukrainian-armed-forces-destroyed-headquarters-of-azov-nationalist-battalion-in-mariupol-report/[/url] or https://southfront.org/ukrainian-armed-forces-destroyed-headquarters-of-azov-nationalist-battalion-in-mariupol-report/ ....The US/CIA is looking for "fighters/lihadi's" [url]https://southfront.org/ukrainian-intelligence-agents-visited-turkish-occupied-northern-syria-met-with-militants-report/[/url] or https://southfront.org/ukrainian-intelligence-agents-visited-turkish-occupied-northern-syria-met-with-militants-report/  with Turkey again playing a double game...trying to keep both Ukraine (a.o. drones) and Russia (Turkey needs oil, tourism) as an ally...

DJ, My view on what to expect;

The US would like to start an other "never ending war" in Eastern Europe to stop EurAsian integration and also try to break up Russia-Iran-China cooperation...The US-CIA in many conflict "hired' jihadi-types...(Turkey also did transport those "moderate rebels" to Libya, use them in the Azerbaijan side in the short war with Armenia).  A sort of "F.ck the EU-part two"....

Both the EU and Ukraine/Zelenski "may start realizing" such a scenario "is not in their interests"....(to put it very polite....)...but will they stop it...so far their foolishness has been shocking...

For Russia a long war in Ukraine is not what they planned...their idea was a "short intervention"...But Russia-following the same strategy in Ukraine as they did in Syria, Chechnya by now has a lot of experience in that sort of "modern warfare"...."Going dirty" (with mass murder of civilians and then blaming others for it...even more propaganda) may also increase further the roles for both Iran and China...[url]https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/938922-death-toll-in-suicide-attack-on-peshawar-mosque-rises-to-63[/url] or https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/938922-death-toll-in-suicide-attack-on-peshawar-mosque-rises-to-63 also has IS (=CIA) links....

So-The US (insane) foreign policy of "you are with us or against us" and US "above any law exceptionalism"  may result in more countries turning against the US...In my opinion "a US political (neo-con) elite" is a total disaster for the US...

[url]https://www.rt.com/news/551334-us-delegation-venezuela-russia/[/url] or https://www.rt.com/news/551334-us-delegation-venezuela-russia/ ; Former Republican Virginia Congressman Scott Taylor claimed on Friday that a Venezuelan businessman had suggested Maduro was open to discussion with the US, while Maduro himself said in a speech on Thursday that “the oil of Venezuela” was “available for whomever wants to produce and buy it, be it an investor from Asia, Europe or the United States.”

DJ, The US did start sanctions against Venezuela so had to switch to "Ural-oil" replacing (a special quality of) oil from Venezuela...The US has a.o. sanctions against Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Cuba...(not to mention supporting bolsenaro in Brazil...Lula may replace him soon...Brazil will not forget the "sort of democracy" the US did bring in Brazil history...allways the US did bring fascists...)..

In Africa the "oil-war" most likely will get worse [url]https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/southern-africa/mozambique/303-stemming-insurrection-mozambiques-cabo-delgado[/url] or https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/southern-africa/mozambique/303-stemming-insurrection-mozambiques-cabo-delgado Boko Haram in (oil-rich) Nigeria...China is in Africa for oil, gas, minerals, profit...

There have been claims a lot of money for CIA operations comes from the international drug-trade...There are very likely links between secret services and (major) global crime...It is a way to make money and get "dirty work done"...you can allways blame "criminal gangs/ties"...IS etc. are trying to "control" some of the oil/gas in some regions...Some countries use "international crime" as a sort of "extra army" (in World War Two the US made deals with the Italian maffia...mussolini was very anti-maffia...nazi-Germany had contacts with the IRA, Nasser in Egypt...[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xdx1gd_ZP0[/url] or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xdx1gd_ZP0 ..the "Free India " Indian SS regiment...I may try to find a "clip" of Germans cooling their Coca Cola in North Africa...binding it to a plane-when it landed it was cold...[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanta[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FantaFanta is a brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are more than 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as a Coca-Cola substitute in 1940 due to the American trade embargo of Nazi Germany which affected the availability of Coca-Cola ingredients. Fanta soon dominated the German market with three million cans sold in 1943. The current formulation of Fanta was developed in Italy in 1955.

DJ...[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Boss_(fashion_designer)[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Boss_(fashion_designer) ;Hugo Ferdinand Boss (8 July 1885 – 9 August 1948)[1] was a German fashion designer and businessman. He was the founder of the fashion house Hugo Boss AG. He was an active member of the Nazi Party as early as 1931 and remained loyal to the Nazi German ideology throughout the party's existence.

Know your history !!! Russia will remain a main exporter of oil and gas...If "the West" does not "want Russian oil and gas" it will be renamed...I would not be surprised if BP, Shell "pulling out of Russia" did "sell their interests" to a Russian BP/Shell company"...

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Schr%C3%B6der ;Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (German: [ˈɡeːɐ̯haʁt fʁɪts kʊʁt ˈʃʁøːdɐ] (audio speaker iconlisten); born 7 April 1944) is a German retired politician, consultant, and lobbyist, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005, during which his most important political initiative was Nord Stream. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). As Chancellor, he led a coalition government of the SPD and Alliance 90/The Greens. Schröder was nominated to become a director of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom in February 2022,[1] and he has been chairman of Russian energy company Rosneft since 2017.

DJ...get informed !!! THINK !!!! There are to many parrots...if you have a brain use it !!!

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
~Albert Einstein
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DJ, Maybe to get some education...(some here on this forum do not have any idea what they are taliking about !) Som interesting video's ́

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBv1SHjqd1Q[/url] or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBv1SHjqd1Q "werewolves" ; Did the Germans really create a stay-behind guerrilla force known as 'Werewolf' to continue the fight behind Allied lines in 1945? Yes, they did, but here you will discover the true story of an organisation that remains shrouded in myth and lies.

DJ [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio ;

Following the fall of France in 1940, Winston Churchill created the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to both assist resistance movements and itself carry out sabotage and subversive operations in occupied Europe. It was revealed half a century later that SOE was complemented by a stay-behind organisation in Britain, created in extreme secrecy, to prepare for a possible invasion by Nazi Germany.

A network of resistance fighters was formed across Britain and arms caches were established. The network was recruited, in part, from the 5th (Ski) Battalion of the Scots Guards (which had originally been formed, but was not deployed, to fight alongside Finnish forces fighting the Soviet invasion of Finland).[22] The network, which became known as the Auxiliary Units, was headed by Major Colin Gubbins – an expert in guerrilla warfare (who would later lead SOE). The units were trained, in part, by "Mad Mike" Calvert, a Royal Engineers officer who specialised in demolition by explosives and covert raiding operations. To the extent that they were publicly visible, the Auxiliary Units were disguised as Home Guard units, under GHQ Home Forces. The network was allegedly disbanded in 1944; some of its members subsequently joined the Special Air Service and saw action in North-West Europe.

While David Lampe published a book on the Auxiliary Units in 1968,[23] their existence did not become widely known by the public until reporters such as David Pallister of The Guardian revived interest in them during the 1990s.

Post-war creation[edit]

After World War II, the UK and the US decided to create "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations, with the official aim of countering a possible Soviet invasion through sabotage and guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. Arms caches were hidden, escape routes prepared, and loyal members recruited, whether in Italy or in other European countries. Its clandestine "cells" were to stay behind in enemy-controlled territory and to act as resistance movements, conducting sabotage, guerrilla warfare and assassinations.

Clandestine stay-behind (SB) units were created with the experience and involvement of former SOE officers.[24] Following Giulio Andreotti's October 1990 revelations, General John Hackett, former commander-in-chief of the British Army on the Rhine, declared on November 16, 1990, that a contingency plan involving "stay behind and resistance in depth" was drawn up after the war. The same week, Anthony Farrar-Hockley, former commander-in-chief of NATO's Forces in Northern Europe from 1979 to 1982, declared to The Guardian that a secret arms network was established in Britain after the war.[25] Hackett had written in 1978 a novel, The Third World War: August 1985, which was a fictionalized scenario of a Soviet Army invasion of West Germany in 1985. The novel was followed in 1982 by The Third World War: The Untold Story, which elaborated on the original. Farrar-Hockley had aroused controversy in 1983 when he became involved in trying to organise a campaign for a new Home Guard against a potential Soviet invasion.

It will be kept secret in wich way OSS/SOE and nazi-werewolves joined forces in the Soviet zone in Eastern Europe...(Dutch nazi's ended up fighting in the Dutch East Indies and Korean war..."still fighting communism" the way they did under hitler...For a lot of other countries after may ́45 "there was more then enough employment for experienced military willing to follow orders" a.o. in Algeria, Indo-China...)

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9RSsvTR06k[/url] or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9RSsvTR06k "The greyzone"; 

Forever War in Ukraine or End of Unipolar World?

Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with Moscow-based international affairs analyst, Mark Sleboda. Sleboda assesses Russia's military maneuvers in the early days of the conflict in Ukraine and evaluates the possibility of a Syria-style dirty war erupting in the country. Sleboda also explains how the war has ushered in a "great decoupling" between Russia and the West and why he believes it represents the "end of the unipolar world." ||| The Grayzone ||| Find more reporting at https://thegrayzone.com

DJ-I think both...more "for ever wars" and "end of unipolar world"...it is allready there...

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghurs[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghurs

The Uyghurs (/ˈwɡʊərz/[24] WEE-goorz or /iˈɡʊərz/[note 2]), alternatively spelled Uighurs,[27] Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as native[note 3] to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China. They are one of China's 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities.[28] The Uyghurs are recognized by the Chinese government as a regional minority and the titular people of Xinjiang.

The Uyghurs have traditionally inhabited a series of oases scattered across the Taklamakan Desert within the Tarim Basin. These oases have historically existed as independent states or were controlled by many civilizations including China, the Mongols, the Tibetans and various Turkic polities. The Uyghurs gradually started to become Islamized in the 10th century and most Uyghurs identified as Muslims by the 16th century. Islam has since played an important role in Uyghur culture and identity.

An estimated 80% of Xinjiang's Uyghurs still live in the Tarim Basin.[29] The rest of Xinjiang's Uyghurs mostly live in Ürümqi, the capital city of Xinjiang UAR, which is located in the historical region of Dzungaria. The largest community of Uyghurs living in another region of China are the Uyghurs living in Taoyuan County, in north-central Hunan.[30] Significant diasporic communities of Uyghurs exist in other Turkic countries such as KazakhstanKyrgyzstanUzbekistan and Turkey.[31] Smaller communities live in Saudi ArabiaJordanAustraliaRussia and Sweden.

Since 2014,[32][33] the Chinese government has subjected Uyghurs living in Xinjiang to widespread abuses that include forced sterilization[34][35][36] and forced labor.[37][38][39][40][41] Scholars estimate that at least one million Uyghurs have been arbitrarily detained in the Xinjiang internment camps since 2017;[42][43][44][45][46] Chinese government officials say that these camps, created under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping's administration, serve the goals of ensuring adherence to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ideology, preventing separatism, fighting terrorism, and providing vocational training to Uyghurs.[40][42][47][48][49]

-

The Xinjiang conflict is an ongoing separatist conflict in China's far-west province of Xinjiang, whose northern region is known as Dzungaria and whose southern region (the Tarim Basin) is known as East Turkestan. Uyghur separatists and independence movements claim that the Second East Turkestan Republic was illegally incorporated by China in 1949 and has since been under Chinese occupation. Uyghur identity remains fragmented, as some support a Pan-Islamic vision, exemplified by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, while others support a Pan-Turkic vision, such as the East Turkestan Liberation Organization. A third group would like an East Turkestan state, such as the East Turkestan independence movement. While the East Turkistan Government in Exile strives for the restoration of East Turkistan's independence as a secular pluralistic Republic that guarantees freedom and civil liberties for all people. As a result, "[n]o Uyghur or East Turkestan group speaks for all Uyghurs, although it might claim to", and Uyghurs in each of these camps have committed violence against other Uyghurs who they think are too assimilated to Chinese or Russian society or are not religious enough.[213] Mindful not to take sides, Uyghur "leaders" such as Rebiya Kadeer mainly tried to garner international support for the "rights and interests of the Uyghurs", including the right to demonstrate, although the Chinese government has accused her of orchestrating the deadly July 2009 Ürümqi riots.[214]

Eric Enno Tamm's 2011 book states that, "Authorities have censored Uyghur writers and 'lavished funds' on official histories that depict Chinese territorial expansion into ethnic borderlands as 'unifications (tongyi), never as conquests (zhengfu) or annexations (tunbing)' "[215]

DJ [url]https://warontherocks.com/2021/01/the-islamic-state-stopped-talking-about-uighurs/[/url] or https://warontherocks.com/2021/01/the-islamic-state-stopped-talking-about-uighurs/ ;

In July 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the now-deceased leader of the Islamic State, named China first in a list of 20 countries and regions where “Muslims’ rights are forcibly seized.” Al-Baghdadi specifically cited the “extreme torture and degradation of Muslims in East Turkistan,” the name for the Chinese province of Xinjiang used by Uighur separatists. Over the following three years, the Islamic State continued its outward support for and recruitment of the Uighurs in a string of videoaudio, and print propaganda.

The culmination of Islamic State advocacy for the Uighurs came in a February 2017 video featuring Uighur foreign fighters training in Iraq and pledging to shed Chinese “blood like rivers to avenge the oppressed.” This was the group’s first direct threat toward China, and experts cited it as evidence China had become “very firmly a target of jihadist rhetoric.” Soon after, in June 2017, the Islamic State announced it had executed two Chinese teachers abducted in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province.

Since these provocative actions in 2017, however, the Islamic State has almost entirely ignored the plight of the Uighurs, according to my analysis of a broad swath of subsequent Islamic State publications. Additionally, I found no further claims in the group’s media to have followed through on threats to attack Chinese interests, and no reports of such attacks in international media.

This apparent decision by the Islamic State to de-emphasize China’s repression of Uighurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic group of 11 million that China fears harbors extremist views and is attempting to “re-educate” in detention camps, is at first hard to square with the Islamic State’s self-appointed role as violent defender of Muslims everywhere. The Islamic State’s inattention carries significant risk to the organization. Much of the Islamic State’s success in attracting and maintaining support across the globe has been born from its willingness to take extreme action to match its extreme worldview. Growing anger in many Muslim-majority countries over the lack of support for the Uighurs from their religious and political leaders — many of whom have been cowed by Chinese investment — is a golden opportunity for the Islamic State to recruit.

However, the Islamic State seems to have determined that a less provocative approach to China is more advantageous. Specifically, the group believes an unprovoked China can play a constructive role in achieving an overriding objective: ending the U.S. military presence in the Middle East and South Asia.

The Enemy’s Enemy 

The Islamic State rightfully recognizes China as the greatest enemy of its greatest enemy. The Islamic State also recognizes that Beijing’s “peace through development” approach to expanding its influence in the Middle East and South Asia, whatever its longer-term negative implications, is useful in the short term vis-à-vis the jihadists’ conflict with the United States.

So "IS" realized it was used by the US against Russia and China...still some "jihadi's" flying from war to war for pay...Like the taliban, IS is strongly against drugs...but non-believers can use as many drugs as they want...Like nazi's IS see themselves as "better, superior"..."exceptional"....

DJ-You have to see the Ukraine War as a part of a much wider conflict...with all sides doing "dirty jobs" or finding "others"to do "the dirty work"...

Spies, betrayal, switching sides during battle are a constant in history...part of war and conflict...

The US is not strong enough to start open wars with Russia or China...or even Iran...so it is in "covert operations" with limited trusted and usefull allies...

[url]https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/escobar-how-russia-will-counterpunch-useu-declaration-war[/url] or https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/escobar-how-russia-will-counterpunch-useu-declaration-war

Arguably the apex of Western hysteria is the onset of a 2022 Neo-Nazi Jihad: a 20,000-strong mercenary army being assembled in Poland under CIA supervision. The bulk comes from private military companies such as Blackwater/Academi and DynCorp. Their cover: “return of Ukrainians from the French Foreign Legion.” This Afghan remix comes straight from the only playbook the CIA knows.

Back in reality, facts on the ground will eventually lead entire economies in the West to become roadkill – with chaos in the commodities sphere leading to skyrocketing energy and food costs. As an example, up to 60% of German and 70% of Italian manufacturing industries may be forced to shut down for good – with catastrophic social consequences.

The unelected, uber-Kafkaesque EU machine in Brussels has chosen to commit a triple hara-kiri by grandstanding as abject vassals of the Empire, destroying any remaining French and German sovereignty impulses and imposing alienation from Russia-China.

Meanwhile, Russia will be showing the way: only self-sufficiency affords total independence. And the Big Picture has also been keenly understood by the Global South: one day someone had to stand up and say, “That’s Enough”. With maximum raw power to back it up.

-

A wave of nationalization of assets may be ahead. ExxonMobil announced it will withdraw from the $4 billion Sakhalin-1 project (they had bailed out on Sakhalin-2, deemed too expensive), producing 200,000 barrels of oil a day, after BP and Norway’s Equinor announced they were withdrawing from projects with Rosneft. BP was actually dreaming of taking all of Rosneft’s participation.

According to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the Kremlin is now blocking asset sales by foreign investors looking to divest. In parallel, Rosneft, for instance, is bound to raise capital from China and India, who are already minority investors in several projects, and buy them out 100%: an excellent opportunity for Russian business.

What could be construed as the Mother of All Counter-Sanctions has not yet been announced. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev himself hinted all options are on the table.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, channeling the patience of 10,000 Taoist monks, still expecting the current hysteria to fade away, describes the sanctions as “some kind of a tax on independence”, with countries barring their companies from working in Russia under “huge pressure.”

Lethal counterpunches though are not excluded. Apart from completely de-dollarizing – as Glaviev recommends – Russia may ban the export of titanium, rare earth, nuclear fuel and, already in effect, rocket engines.

Very toxic moves would include seizing all foreign assets of hostile nations; freeze all loan repayments to Western banks and place the funds in a frozen account in a Russian bank; completely ban all hostile foreign media, foreign media ownership, assorted NGOs and CIA fronts; and supply friendly nations with state of the art weapons, intel sharing and joint training and exercises.

What’s certain is that a new architecture of payment systems – as discussed by Michael Hudson and others – uniting the Russian SPFS and the Chinese CHIPS, may soon be offered to scores of nations across Eurasia and the Global South – several among them already under sanctions, such as Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, the DPRK.

Slowly but surely, we are already on the way to the emergence of a sizeable Global South bloc immune to American financial warfare.

The RIC in BRICS – Russia, India and China – are already increasing trade in their own currencies. If we look at the list of nations at the UN that voted against Russia or abstained from condemning Operation Z in Ukraine, plus those that did not sanction Russia, we have at least 70% of the whole Global South.

So once again is the West – plus satrapies/colonies such as Japan and Singapore in Asia – against the Rest: Eurasia, Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America.

DJ ...it is beyond insane the US believes Russia is "isolated" ...the only reason why there are no pipelines between Russia and India yet is because India has "not such good relations with Pakistan and China"...so India is working with Iran...

Does the US elite realy not get that 5 billion people live in EurAsia ? Or is that the reason why they push for that many conflicts ? 

DJ-In my opinion the US should go for cooperation NOT confrontation; respect not war...The US is self destructive....

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
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Shocking Lessons U.S. Military Leaders Learned by Watching Putin's Invasion

Russia's military is weak and backwards.

Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine produced this paradigm-shifting surprise—one that should transform the West's view of Russia's prowess, the threat that the country represents, and the Kremlin's future in the global arena.

After just one day of fighting, Russia's ground force lost most of its initial momentum, undermined by shortages of fuel, ammunition and even food, but also because of a poorly trained and led force. Russia began to compensate for the weaknesses of its land army with more long-range air, missile and artillery strikes. And President Putin resorted to a nuclear threat—a reaction, U.S. military experts say, to the failure of Moscow's conventional forces to make quick progress on the ground. 

Other military observers are flabbergasted that a Russian invasion force, fully prepared and operating from Russian soil, has been able to move just tens of miles into an adjoining country. One retired U.S. Army general told Newsweek in an email: "We know that Russia has a plodding army and that Russian military force has always been a blunt instrument, but why risk the antipathy of the entire planet if you have no prospect of achieving even minimal gains." The Army general believes that the only explanation is that the Kremlin overestimated its own forces.

"I believe that at the heart of Russian military thinking is how Marshall Zhukov marched across Eastern Europe to Berlin," a former high-level CIA official told Newsweek in an interview. Zhukov's orders were to "line up the artillery and ... flatten everything ahead of you," he says. "'Then send in the peasant Army to kill or rape anyone left alive.' Subtle the Russians are not."

https://www.newsweek.com/shocking-lessons-us-military-leaders-learned-watching-putins-invasion-1683625



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Russian Shops To Limit Food Sales As Sanctions Over Ukraine Start To Bite 

Moscow:

Retailers in Russia will limit sales of essential foodstuffs to limit black market speculation and ensure affordability, the government said Sunday, as sanctions imposed over Moscow’s military incursion into Ukraine began to bite. 

The trade and industry ministry over the weekend said there had been cases where essential foodstuffs had been purchased “in a volume clearly larger than necessary for private consumption (up to several tons) for subsequent resale”.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2022 at 2:14am

Sanctions will devastate the Russian economy—will they destabilise the west’s?

The crippling restrictions imposed on Moscow will have blowback. The 

question is how much

The implications of these measures for the Russian economy are drastic, triggering bank runs and a rush to purchase luxury goods that might hold their value better than cash. The ruble torpedoed on the first trading day after the sanctions were announced, the Russian equity market did not open, the CBR more than doubled interest rates to 20 per cent and capital controls were imposed to stop money fleeing the country. The sanctions on the CBR rendered most of Russia’s roughly $630bn in foreign reserves unusable, and so the central bank now has limited power to prop up the currency.

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Second ceasefire attempt in Mariupol for evacuations

The city council of Mariupol has said a ceasefire will be observed between 10am and 9pm local time today.

However, the evacuation of civilians was postponed yesterday because Russian forces encircling the city were not respecting an agreed ceasefire.

In a statement, the city council had asked residents to return to shelters in the city and await further information on evacuation.

In a televised broadcast, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said Russia was not observing an agreed ceasefire in some areas, preventing a joint plan to allow civilians to evacuate.

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The End of the Oligarch Era Nears With Putin’s Miscalculation in Ukraine

Sanctions are punishing Russia’s wealthiest businesspeople—and the country’s leader—by bringing a cold, hard stop to 30 years of integration with the global economy.

On the day Russia’s invasion began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked in a video address: “What do we hear today? It’s not just rocket explosions, fighting, and the roar of aircraft. This is the sound of a new Iron Curtain lowering and closing Russia off from the civilized world.”

It’s the defining quote of our abrupt new world order. Many Kremlin watchers never thought Vladimir Putin would go this far—never thought a man known for winning calculated bets would invade and attempt to hold a country of more than 44 million people. But after 22 years in power, the Russian president may have finally overreached. His gamble has isolated his nation and could, some seasoned diplomats believe, eventually bring about the end of his regime.

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Countries across Asia are condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some key Asian countries are even joining international sanctions against Moscow.  As VOA reports, it is not just U.S. allies that are concerned.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2022 at 2:53am

The United States is considering sending planes to Poland if Warsaw decided to send fighter jets to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a visit to Moldova on Sunday.

He said:

We are looking actively now at the question of airplanes that Poland may provide to Ukraine and looking at how we might be able to backfill should Poland decide to supply those planes.

I can’t speak to a timeline but I can just say we’re looking at it very, very actively.

The visit came after Blinken visited NATO-member Poland on Saturday as the alliance bolsters its eastern flank in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WitchMisspelled Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2022 at 5:20am

Originally posted by ksc ksc wrote:

The United States is considering sending planes to Poland if Warsaw decided to send fighter jets to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a visit to Moldova on Sunday.

He said:

We are looking actively now at the question of airplanes that Poland may provide to Ukraine and looking at how we might be able to backfill should Poland decide to supply those planes.

I can’t speak to a timeline but I can just say we’re looking at it very, very actively.

The visit came after Blinken visited NATO-member Poland on Saturday as the alliance bolsters its eastern flank in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Whenever I read reports like this, I get the feeling the planes are already there. 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2022 at 6:03am

The planes are there ready to go, the US and other countries just need to replace them. I wonder if they are already in the sky? The US has special forces in Poland currently so intel is good.

Katherine Butler 

The exiled Belarus opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said the country’s leader had in effect ceded control of Belarus to the Kremlin.

President Alexander Lukashenko denies that his armed forces are operating in Ukraine or that he plans to enter the war on Russia’s side. But Belarus’s military is now indirectly under Kremlin control, Tsikhanouskaya said in an interview with the Guardian.

“It seems to us that Lukashenko is not controlling our military any more, the only thing he is controlling is repression against the Belarusian people,” she said. “We see signs of the military occupation of Belarus.”

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2022 at 9:52pm

[url]https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistani-premier-hits-out-western-envoys-joint-letter-russia-2022-03-06/[/url] or https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistani-premier-hits-out-western-envoys-joint-letter-russia-2022-03-06/

"What do you think of us? Are we your slaves ... that whatever you say, we will do?" Khan said while addressing a political rally.

In the event, Pakistan, a traditional ally of the West, abstained from voting as the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly reprimanded Russia for invading Ukraine.

"I want to ask the European Union ambassadors: Did you write such a letter to India?" Khan said, noting that Pakistan's arch-rival had also abstained.


Khan also said European countries had not censured India for its actions in Kashmir, a mountainous region over which Pakistan and India have fought two wars.

He said Pakistan had suffered because it had supported the Western NATO alliance in Afghanistan, and instead of gratitude faced criticism.

Khan and his government found themselves in the spotlight after he went ahead with a visit to Moscow in late February as fears of an invasion were growing, and met Vladimir Putin a few hours after the Russian president had ordered his troops into Ukraine.


"We are friends with Russia, and we are also friends with America; we are friends with China and with Europe; we are not in any camp," Khan added, saying Pakistan would remain "neutral" and work with those trying to end the war in Ukraine.


DJ, 

Ukraine's Vinnytsia Airport 'completely destroyed' in Russian airstrike, President Zelensky says


Poland came up with the idea of sending in Mig-29's...the US would replace them with F-16's....A few remarks;

-Most Ukraine air bases-if not all-may have been destroyed. So where are Polish Mig's supposed to land ? 

-Mig 29 is "quite old" (going back to when Poland was part of the Warsaw Pact...that ended over 30 years ago...NATO did not end...why ?) ...simply in a military sense not of any use...

Sending in those planes would be another provocation...[url]https://liveuamap.com/en/2022/7-march-media-in-less-than-a-week-the-united-states-and-nato[/url] or https://liveuamap.com/en/2022/7-march-media-in-less-than-a-week-the-united-states-and-nato

Media: "In less than a week, the United States and NATO have pushed more than 17,000 antitank weapons, including Javelin missiles, over the borders of Poland and Romania,"

DJ...Ukraine/Zelensky and his group may start realizing they have been used...They must-by now-be pretty angry with "the West" (US/UK most) for being another US tool in blocking EurAsian integration...

The view I am starting to get is that; YES The US knew of Russian forces build up...YES There was agreement on very strong sanctions against Russia...These two factors-I am getting the idea-were supposed to stop Russia from starting the invasion...When the US bluf-poker strategy did not work out the way the US expected they were in shock...

The 'poker game" by the US expected Russia to decide-at the last moment-NOT to attack...For that matter, Russia now activating nuclear weapons should be seen as a very clear warning...Russia WILL !!! use them if need be...

DJ [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Pakistan_gas_pipeline[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Pakistan_gas_pipeline

During the year 2017, India is planning to disassociate from this pipeline project and working on cheaper independent under sea pipe line directly from Iran.[28]

I started with Pakistan PM making his point of view clear...One of the major jobs now going on is how to improver relations between India with Pakistan and China...There is allready "TIP" (Turkey 86 million, Iran also 86 million Pakistan 228 million 172+228=400 million people !) cooperation.

India needs to do bussiness with Asia...The new undersea pipeline between India and Iran most likely will be used for export of Russian gas (via the Caspian Sea). If relations with China improve India may be linked with west China pipelines for Russian oil and gas. Also most Arab states will join the Asian energy market...not any longer using the US$ but payment in local currencies...

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TurkStream[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TurkStream Turkey will keep buying Russian gas...may be exporting it to the EU as "Iraq gas"...the EU may be willing to accept the lies...

Since the EU also needs grain it may use Turkey to "buy Turkish grain" coming from Russia, Ukraine...

-China may use Pakistan as an exportlink to the EU...the Russian market is welcome but limited...Still the EU market is also not any longer the major market...south Asia may be the market of the future...It is in the interests for both India, China and TIP to improve relations...

Afghanistan may be usefull as a link between TIP/India and Russia...

DJ...in other words...Asia may be able to do without both the US and EU...South Korea is also involved in that "Asian Market" idea..[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Australia_Free_Trade_Agreement[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Australia_Free_Trade_Agreement  even Australia (and New Zealand) have to do bussiness with Asia...

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia%E2%80%93Russia_relations[/url] or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia%E2%80%93Russia_relations ; Russia is a major arms supplier to Indonesia. Russian arms exports to Indonesia include the Sukhoi Su-30Sukhoi Su-27Mil Mi-35BMP-3Mil Mi-17, and Sukhoi Su-35.

-

Indonesia is one of Russia's investment destinations, such as investing in the construction of an oil refinery worth US$16 billion in Tuban. Based on BKPM RI data, the value of Russian investment in Indonesia in the January-September 2019 period increased 10 times by US$17.29 million from US$1.7 million in the same period in 2018.[citation needed] This figure is actually far from the actual value considering that most Russian investment into Indonesia through third countries.

Indonesia has also become one of the top destinations for Russian tourists.

DJ..Alexander Mercouris-good info [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg8mYJi7CqE[/url] or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg8mYJi7CqE ;

Russia Closes in on Mariupol, Worldwide Inflation Surges, China Cools on Mediation, Refuses to Pressure Russia

 News Topic 432

 https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjdt... If US keeps intensifying Ukraine crisis with sanctions, military deployments, 'mediation would be useless' https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/20220... Economic war will test the West’s resolve https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/... 

.....Music; [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-YJeGvsdJ0[/url] or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-YJeGvsdJ0 ; "Who Do You Think You Are" is a song written by the British songwriting-team Des Dyer and Clive Scott. The song was first recorded by the pop group Candlewick Green and released in late December 1973. The song peaked at #21 in February 1974.


stay safe and sane

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
~Albert Einstein
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2022 at 10:57pm

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ukraine/2022-03-04/what-if-russia-loses

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a strategic blunder by invading Ukraine. He has misjudged the political tenor of the country, which was not waiting to be liberated by Russian soldiers. He has misjudged the United States, the European Union, and a number of countries—including Australia, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea—all of which were capable of collective action before the war and all of which are now bent on Russia’s defeat in Ukraine. The United States and its allies and partners are imposing harsh costs on Moscow. Every war is a battle for public opinion, and Putin’s war in Ukraine has—in an age of mass-media imagery—associated Russia with an unprovoked attack on a peaceful neighbor, with mass humanitarian suffering, and with manifold war crimes. At every turn, the ensuing outrage will be an obstacle to Russian foreign policy in the future.

 No less significant than Putin’s strategic error have been the Russian army’s tactical blunders. Bearing in mind the challenges of assessment in the early stages of a war, one can surely say that Russian planning and logistics were inadequate and that the lack of information given to soldiers and even to officers in the higher echelons was devastating to morale. The war was supposed to end quickly, with a lightning strike that would decapitate the Ukrainian government or cow it into surrender, after which Moscow would impose neutrality on Ukraine or establish a Russian suzerainty over the country. Minimal violence might have equaled minimal sanctions. Had the government fallen quickly, Putin could have claimed that he was right all along: because Ukraine had not been willing or able to defend itself, it was not a real country—just like he had said. 

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2022 at 11:10pm

Putin’s Panicked Crackdown at Home Shows He’s on the Way Out

Can the Ukrainians survive the current onslaught by Vladimir Putin’s forces? Awed by their defiance and courage, the international community has responded with an outpouring of sympathy for their cause—and, more importantly, imposed an unprecedented array of sanctions aimed at undercutting support within Russia for Putin’s war. But will any of this stop the Russian dictator?

I was based in Moscow as a Newsweek correspondent in both the Soviet and post-Soviet eras, so many friends expect me to know the answer to those questions.

Putin Isn’t Just Insane. It’s Far Worse Than That.


I certainly don’t know how long the Ukrainians can hold off an army, which, however demoralized and poorly led, still has an overwhelming edge in firepower. But if forced to hazard a guess, I’d say that any short-term Russian victories will only delay, not banish, the prospect of a leadership change in the Kremlin. This is what Putin fears the most and what propelled him to gamble on an invasion of his neighbor in the first place.

He could not allow Ukraine to continue developing into a successful country, linked increasingly to its Western neighbors and already offering its citizens more freedom and opportunities than most Russians enjoy. That’s an example Putin is determined to eliminate.

After more than two decades in power, Putin also fears his domestic critics, like jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who have systematically exposed the wholesale corruption of his regime. As in the late Soviet era, even relatively small protests signal a challenge to the rulers that suggests much wider discontent—and trigger repression, including more arrests and crackdowns on the few remaining independent media outlets.

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How the West Marshaled a Stunning Show of Unity Against Russia

Mark Landler


Ukrainian security forces in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, March 4, 2022. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)
Ukrainian security forces in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, March 4, 2022. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)

LONDON — The day after Russian tanks and troops poured across the Ukrainian border on Feb. 24, NATO leaders received a deeply frightening message. The alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, opened an emergency video summit by warning that President Vladimir Putin had “shattered peace in Europe” and that from now on, he would openly contest the continent’s security order.

However unlikely, Stoltenberg told the leaders, it was no longer unthinkable that Putin would attack a NATO member. Such a move would trigger the collective defense clause in the North Atlantic Treaty, opening the door to the ultimate nightmare scenario: a direct military conflict with Russia.

President Joe Biden, who had dialed in from the White House Situation Room, spoke up swiftly. Article 5 was “sacrosanct,” he said, referring to the “one for all, all for one” principle that has anchored NATO since its founding after World War II. Biden urged allied leaders to step up and send reinforcements to Europe’s eastern flank, according to multiple officials briefed on the call.

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Within hours, NATO had mobilized its rapid response force, a kind of military SWAT team, for the first time in history to deter an enemy. It was one in an avalanche of precedent-shattering moves, unfolding in ministries and boardrooms from Washington to London and Brussels to Berlin. In a few frantic days, the West threw out the standard playbook that it had used for decades and instead marshaled a stunning show of unity against Russia’s brutal aggression in the heart of Europe.

A “new normal,” Stoltenberg called it.

In truth, these 10 days in February shook the world, upending long-held assumptions, sundering decades of productive engagement and wiping out billions of dollars of investment in Russia. It was anything but normal.

Much as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 set off a tumultuous cascade of changes across Europe, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought the West to a comparable, if far more ominous, historical reckoning.

“That was an epochal, peaceful liberation,” Timothy Garton Ash, professor of European studies at Oxford University, said of communism's collapse. “This is an epochal, violent attempt at recolonization. As we were moved then with hope and excitement, so we’re moved now by horror, anger and fear.”

The shock of Russia’s invasion led Germany to discard six decades of military-averse policy rooted in its own wartime experience. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the Germans would ship Ukraine 1,000 shoulder-launched antitank rockets, 500 surface-to-air Stinger missiles and 2,700 Soviet-era shoulder-fired missiles — as well as embark on a mammoth, $110 billion rearming program at home.

It led the once-divided European Union to unite behind choking sanctions that will ban Russia’s central bank, which holds Putin’s war chest, from selling any assets to European banks. Brussels, long derided as an economic giant but a foreign-policy dwarf, pledged to spend $500 million on defensive weapons for Ukraine.

It led Biden to recast a presidency that had been focused on rebuilding America after the coronavirus pandemic and confronting China to one that is waging a twilight struggle against a Cold War rival on the plains of Eastern Europe.

It has reverberated not just in the councils of state, but also in corporate suites, cultural institutions and sports leagues — to say nothing of city streets from Mexico City to Madrid, where tens of thousands of demonstrators have waved the yellow-and-blue Ukrainian flag and chanted against Russia’s aggression.

Overnight, oil giants like BP, Shell and Exxon walked away from gargantuan investments in Russia. Technology companies like Apple halted sales in Russia, while Google pulled Russian media off their networks. Sports bodies like FIFA and the International Olympic Committee barred Russians from competing.

For each of these institutions, such actions would have been inconceivable only a week earlier. Although the United States and its allies had labored quietly for months, as Russian troops were massing on Ukraine’s border, to lay the groundwork for sanctions, the readiness of much of the West remained in doubt.

On Feb. 19, five days before Putin set his army in motion, Ukraine’s embattled president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, flew to a security conference in Munich to issue a frustrated challenge to Western leaders: “What are you waiting for?”

To trace the 10-day period before and after Russia’s invasion, in the worlds of geopolitics, business, culture and sports, is to see how Putin’s brazen attack made the inconceivable suddenly inevitable.

None of these momentous moves, it must be said, have succeeded in halting the Russian war machine. Ten days on, Europeans are girding themselves for a prolonged siege in Ukraine, facing a future that is menacing and unmoored.

“The world and Europe fundamentally changed,” said Michael Roth, the chair of the foreign affairs committee in the German Parliament. “An offensive war is once again the bitter reality on the European continent and we as liberal democracies have to deal with that reality.”

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2022 at 11:24pm

Russia's central bank is scrambling to prop up the country's economy. Here's everything it's done to stave off sanctions and what it could do next.

  • Russia's central bank has doubled interest rates, limited foreigners from moving money, and made other moves in response to Western sanctions.

  • Russia's economy is in turmoil and the ruble is worth less than a penny.

  • Two experts explained what Russia's central bank could do next.

Western sanctions are battering the Russian economy, and its central bank has been maneuvering in any way it can in order to forestall economic collapse.

Last weekend, Russia's central bank doubled its interest rates, snapped up gold in the domestic market to shore up its finances, and it declared that Western countries could not exit Russian investments.

Russian banks have struggled after being banned from the SWIFT interbank messaging system, and on Wednesday the central bank announced it was seeing a widening liquidity shortage as its citizens make a run on banks.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 06 2022 at 11:39pm

he world.

Who Has The Best Military In The World?

Overview

A nation's military strength is measured by the Military Strength Indicator which was introduced by Credit Suisse. There are certain factors that are taken into consideration when measuring the military strength of a country. The factors include aircraft carriers accounting for 25%, submarines also accounting for 25%, aircraft accounting for 20%, attack helicopters accounting for 15%, tanks accounting for 10% and active personnel in Army accounting for 5%. Despite reduced cuts and a decrement in army size, the United States has managed to dominate as the best military nation in the world. While the United States might be far ahead on the list as the military superpower, China and Russia are the closest adversaries, and together they make the top three powerful militaries in the world.

 

The Top Three

The United States Of America

The United States is the ultimate military superpower with a defence budget of $601 billion. Despite having budget costs and size reduction, the US still spends more money on their military budget than the ten next best militaries that follow. The nation's military advantage is the 19 aircraft carriers which are way more than the 12 operated by the rest of the world put together. The US also has by far the most aircraft compared to any other country with powerful technology, well-trained soldiers, and the largest supply of nuclear weapons in the world.

China

The People's Republic of China is the second best military in the world with a defense budget of $216 billion. Over the years, the military strength of China has rapidly grown in both size and capability. Regarding soldiers, China is the largest military in the world and the second largest in both submarine and tank fleet behind the US and Russia respectively. China has been developing cutting edge military technology together with modernizing military programs.

Russia

The Russian armed forces have the third best military in the world with a defense budget of $85 billion. Russia has not only the largest tank fleet in the world but also the second largest aircraft fleet behind the United States and the third largest submarine fleet behind the United States and China. The military force of Russia has increased since the year 2008 by almost one third and is projected to grow by a 44% in the coming years.

Assessing Military Strength

Determining a county’s military power can be difficult but some of the factors considered include the geographical location, reliance on natural resources, arsenal strength, military budget, and current economic strength. Presently, political or military leadership and nuclear capability are not taken into consideration.

Who Has The Best Military In The World?

RankCountryBudget (USD Billions)
1United States601
2China216
3Russia85
4France62
5South Korea62
6United Kingdom61
7India50
8Japan42
9Germany40
10Italy34
11Australia26
12Turkey18
13Israel17
14Canada16
15Taiwan11
16Poland9
17Pakistan7
18Indonesia7
19Thailand5
20Egypt4
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2022 at 6:23am

Ukraine says it neutralized third of Russian army and promised ‘surprise’

2022.03.07 08:05

In less than 11 days of resistance, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have neutralized up to 46,000 Russian soldiers, reports Andriy Zahorodniuk, chairman of the Office of the Center for Defensive Strategies, writes NV.ua.

https://belsat.eu/en/news/07-03-2022-ukraine-says-it-neutralized-third-of-russian-army-and-promised-surprise/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

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Russia's ruble crashes 10% to a new record low as the US and Europe consider a ban on its energy exports

On Sunday, Moody's cut Russia's credit rating to its second-lowest status of "Ca," which means securities in the country are likely or very near a default. That is seen as another factor contributing to the ruble's latest decline.

Last week, the ruble plunged 30% in response to previous sanctions imposed by Western nations, as international investors and foreign companies quickly distanced themselves from Russian investments.

In an effort to avoid the collapse of the ruble, Russia's central bank has more than doubled interest rates to 20%. But the move doesn't seem to have shielded the currency from further free-fall.

Moscow's stock exchange was closed all last week on the orders of the central bank, and no trading will take place until Wednesday, it said Friday. That will mark its longest market closure ever.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2022 at 9:57am

BUDAPEST, March 7 (Reuters) - Hungary allows NATO troops to be deployed in western Hungary and weapons shipments to cross its territory to other NATO member states, according to a decree signed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban and published in the official gazette on Monday.

Reporting by Krisztina Than and Anita Komuves Editing by Gareth Jones


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2022 at 11:55pm

[url]https://thesaker.is/major-military-and-political-developments-and-major-risks-next/[/url] or https://thesaker.is/major-military-and-political-developments-and-major-risks-next/ ;

In fact, let me rephrase my question this way: is it at all possible that this war can end without a direct military confrontation between NATO and Russia, keeping in mind that NATO cannot win and NATO cannot accept defeat?

Sadly, I don’t think so anymore, that kind of folly is a direct consequence of the Western PSYOPs which have convinced the folks in the West of two crucial things: 1) Russia cannot win and 2) Putin is bluffing.

I think that the folks in the Pentagon are smart enough to know that this is all bull, but the Eurorodents inside NATO and the EU?

Wouldn’t a military/political defeat of NATO in Banderastan not risk bringing down NATO as an organization?

Again, please tell me that I am wrong, but I don’t see how this war can stop before Russia shows NATO that nobody in Russia is bluffing and that any NATO country dumb enough to test that will be the target of missile strikes.

DJ; By now the US goal is regime change in Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua etc. The present US government is insane. 

Scott Ritter

@RealScottRitter
 · 
Nearly every negative thing written about the Russian military intervention in Syria has been demonstrably proven wrong. Keep this in mind when reading about atrocities committed in Ukraine, written by the same people who got the Syria story so wrong. Western journalism is dead.

So [url]https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwqusr8YDwM-3mEYTDeJHzw[/url] or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwqusr8YDwM-3mEYTDeJHzw Republic World from India may be one of the better alternatives....

[url]https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/07/pity-the-nation/[/url] or https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/07/pity-the-nation/ ;

Now America is taking it to the next level when it comes to the pandemic of Russophobia that is sweeping across the country, purging everything Russian from the national discourse and experience. Russian books are being banned and Russian restaurants boycotted and worse, attacked. The massive economic sanctions enacted against Russia and the Russian people has extended to what amounts to an erasure of all things Russian from the American experience.

Where will this stop? History shows that America is capable of healing itself — the national shame that was the treatment of Japanese- Americans during World War II is a clear demonstration of this phenomenon. However, the politics of cancellation which has emerged in the American body politic has never carried with it the kind of potential blow-back that exists in the case of Russia.

In the pell-mell rush toward cancelling Russia in the name of defeating Putin, emotion has replaced common sense, to the point that people are ignoring the fact that Russia is a nuclear power willing and able to use its Armageddon-inducing arsenal in defense of what it views as its legitimate national security interests.

There has never been a time when a national discussion has been more essential to the continued survival of the American people and all humanity. If this discussion could occur armed with the full range of facts and opinions relating to Russia, there might be hope that reason would prevail, and all nations would walk away from the abyss of our collective suicide. Unfortunately, the American experiment in democracy is not conducive for such near-term embrace of sanity and reason.

“Pity the nation,” Ferlinghetti wrote, “whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced, and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.”

Pity America.

Scott Ritter is a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer who served in the former Soviet Union implementing arms control treaties, in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm, and in Iraq overseeing the disarmament of WMD.

DJ, Again this war is about NATO expansion....Why we still have NATO ????

[url]https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/03/to-punish-russia-the-liberal-order-attempts-to-suicide-itself.html[/url] or https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/03/to-punish-russia-the-liberal-order-attempts-to-suicide-itself.html 

[url]https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/carnage-everywhere-market-begins-break[/url] or https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/carnage-everywhere-market-begins-breakBelieve it or not, those were some of the more timid moves observed today. As Nomura noted earlier, there have been some truly historic swings across all assets, especially Energy where oil had its biggest daily swing ever, with Brent surging to near $140 before tumbling $20 after Germany said it has no plans to halt Russian energy imports, only to reverse higher again...


DJ...WE-the west-is paying for the Ukraine war...buy still getting oil & gas from Russia...at much higher prices. Russia has other buyers...NOT delivering oil& gas to that west, not selling all kinds of other goods - China joining that boycot...will destroy the western economy. [url]https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/russia-ukraine-crisis/russia-threatens-to-shut-down-gas-supply-through-nord-stream-1-to-europe-articleshow.html[/url] or https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/russia-ukraine-crisis/russia-threatens-to-shut-down-gas-supply-through-nord-stream-1-to-europe-articleshow.html 

Insanity as a new normal will get us all killed ! STOP NATO NOW !


We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
~Albert Einstein
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Insanity as a new normal will get us all killed ! Destroy Russia and Their disinformation operatives   NOW !

Fact vs. Fiction: Russian Disinformation on Ukraine

FACT SHEET

OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON

JANUARY 20, 2022




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The Department of State, working with the U.S. interagency, is aware of several Russian military and intelligence entities that are engaged in information confrontation targeting Ukraine.  These activities include the spread of disinformation and propaganda attempting to paint Ukraine and Ukrainian government officials as the aggressor in the Russia-Ukraine relationship.  Such measures are intended to influence Western countries into believing Ukraine’s behavior could provoke a global conflict and convince Russian citizens of the need for Russian military action in Ukraine.  Below are examples of Russian lies about the current crisis and its causes – and the truth.

FICTION:  Ukraine and Ukrainian government officials are the aggressor in the Russia-Ukraine relationship.[i]

FACT:  False statements from the Putin regime blame the victim, Ukraine, for Russia’s aggression.  Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, occupies Crimea, controls armed forces in the Donbas, and has now amassed more than 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine while President Putin threatens “retaliatory military-technical” measures if his demands are not met.

FICTION:  The West is pushing Ukraine toward a conflict.[ii]

FACT:  Moscow instigated the current crisis by placing more than 100,000 troops on the border of Ukraine, with no similar military activity on the Ukrainian side of the border.  Russian military and intelligence entities are targeting Ukraine with disinformation attempting to paint Ukraine and Ukrainian government officials as the aggressor in the Russia-Ukraine relationship.  The Russian government is trying to trick the world into believing Ukraine’s behavior could provoke a global conflict and to convince Russian citizens of the need for Russian military action in Ukraine.  Russia blames others for its own aggression, but it is Moscow’s responsibility to end this crisis peacefully through de-escalation and diplomacy.  Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2014, occupies Crimea, and continues to fuel conflict in eastern Ukraine.  This follows a pattern of Russian behavior of undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries in the region – invading and occupying parts of Georgia in 2008, and failing to honor its 1999 commitment to withdraw its troops and munitions from Moldova, where they remain without the government’s consent.

FICTION:  Russia’s deployment of combat forces is a mere repositioning of troops on its own territory.[iii]

FACT:  Deploying more than 100,000 Russian troops, including battle-hardened combat forces and offensive weaponry with no plausible innocuous explanation, to the borders of a country that Russia has previously invaded and still occupies in places is no mere troop rotation.  It is a clear, renewed Russian threat to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.  The buildup is paired with active disinformation measures designed to undermine confidence in the Ukrainian government and create a pretext for further Russian incursion.

FICTION:  The United States has planned chemical weapons attacks in the Donbas.[iv]

FACT:  The United States and Russia are parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.  In accordance with its obligations under that international agreement, the United States does not use chemical weapons.  However, the Russian government has twice used chemical weapons in recent years to attack and attempt to assassinate opponents, including on foreign soil.  Rather than fuel conflict in eastern Ukraine as Russia has done, the United States has provided more than $351 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by Moscow’s aggression there since 2014.   Russia is using statements from high-level officials as well as disinformation and propaganda outlets to intentionally spread outright falsehoods to attempt to create a pretext for military action.

FICTION:  Russia is defending ethnic Russians in Ukraine.[v]

FACT:  There are no credible reports of any ethnic Russians or Russian speakers being under threat from the Ukrainian government.  There are, however, credible reports that in Russia-occupied Crimea and in the Donbas, Ukrainians face suppression of their culture and national identity and live in an environment of severe repression and fear.  In Crimea, Russia forces Ukrainians to assume Russian citizenship or lose their property, their access to healthcare, and their jobs.  Those who peacefully express opposition to Russia’s occupation or control face imprisonment on baseless grounds, police raids on their homes, officially sanctioned discrimination, and in some cases torture and other abuses.  Religious and ethnic minorities are investigated and prosecuted as “extremists” and “terrorists.”

FICTION:  NATO has plotted against Russia since the end of the Cold War, encircled Russia with forces, broken supposed promises not to enlarge, and threatened Russia’s security with the prospect of Ukrainian membership in the Alliance .[vi]

FACT:  NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect its member states.  All Allies reaffirmed at the June 2021 Brussels Summit that “the Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia.”  In fact, in 2002 President Putin himself stated “Every country has the right to choose the way it ensures its security.  This holds for the Baltic states as well.  Secondly, and more specifically, NATO is primarily a defensive bloc.”

NATO does not encircle Russia – Russia’s land border is just over 20,000 kilometers long.  Of that, less than one-sixteenth (1,215 kilometers), is shared with NATO members.  Russia has land borders with 14 countries. Only five of them are NATO members.

In response to Russia’s use of military force against its neighbors, NATO deployed four multinational battlegroups to the Baltic States and Poland in 2016.  These forces are rotational, defensive, proportionate, and requested by the host nations.  Before Russia’s illegal seizure of Crimea, there were no plans to deploy Allied troops to the eastern part of the Alliance.

NATO never promised not to admit new members.  NATO enlargement is not directed against Russia.  Every sovereign nation has the right to choose its own security arrangements and to enter into defensive regional alliances for purposes of self-defense.  This is a fundamental principle of European security, reflected in the UN Charter, and is one that Russia has affirmed in myriad international and regional instruments such as the Helsinki Final Act.


russia nato
Map depicting NATO borders with Russia. Boundary representation is not necessarily authoritative.

FICTION:  The West shuns diplomacy and goes straight to measures like sanctions.[vii]

FACT:  The United States and our partners are engaging in intensive diplomacy to resolve this crisis, including directly with the Russian government.  President Biden has spoken with President Putin twice and U.S. officials have held dozens of high-level meetings and phone calls with Russian and European counterparts as part of a comprehensive diplomatic effort to resolve this situation peacefully.  What remains to be seen is whether Russia is willing to meet its responsibilities as a member of the global community and take steps to de-escalate the crisis it has generated.  But we have also made clear, publicly and privately, that we and our partners will impose swift and severe economic costs on the Russian economy should President Putin choose to further invade Ukraine.

[i] “Now they tell us, war, war, war.  It seems [the Ukrainians] are preparing another operation [in Donbas] and are warning us not to get in the way, or there’ll be sanctions.” – President Putin https://web.archive.org/web/20220110200851/https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/russian-mercenaries-deploy-into-eastern-ukraine-sources-claim/ar-AAS5OBj?hss_channel=fbp-44821210086

[ii] “We have to be mindful of our own security, not just for today and not just for next week, but in the short term.  How is Russia to live with all this?  Do we always have to stay on guard, watching what happens there and when a strike might come?  But what does it all mean if we end up in the conflict you are asking about?  This is not our choice, and we do not want this” – President Putin https://web.archive.org/web/20211230075113/http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/67438

[iii] ”We will decide for ourselves solely what to do on our territory.” – Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Ryabkov https://archive.is/8q8NK#selection-3851.30-3851.69

[iv] “We have identified the presence of over 120 members of U.S. mercenary groups in the cities of Avdiivka and Krasny Liman to commit provocations…Tanks filled with unidentified chemical components were delivered to the cities of Avdeevka and Krasny Liman to commit provocations.” – Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu https://web.archive.org/web/20211225083153/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/12/21/us-mercenaries-preparing-donbass-provocation-russian-defense-chief-a75892

[v] “We see and know what is happening in Donbas.  It certainly looks like genocide” – President Putin  https://web.archive.org/web/20220108143615/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59599066

[vi] “… all this is happening against the background of active military ‘expansion’ on the territory of Ukraine by NATO countries creating a direct threat to the security of Russia.” – The Kremlin https://web.archive.org/web/20220110013538/https://www.jpost.com/international/putin-tells-uks-johnson-nato-members-are-threatening-russia-from-ukraine-688642

[vii] ”[Future U.S. sanctions] would be a mistake that our ancestors would see as a grave error. A lot of mistakes have been made over the past 30 years, and we would better avoid more such mistakes in this situation.” – Presidential foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov https://web.archive.org/web/20220108121328/https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-affirms-sanctions-threat-putin-says-that-would-be-colossal-mistake-/6376182.html

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 08 2022 at 1:33am

[url]https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/stunning-admission-ukraine-former-top-level-cia-official[/url] or https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/stunning-admission-ukraine-former-top-level-cia-official

The CIA's Beebe follows with this almost unbelievable line: 

"And we elected to make sure that the veto was exercised on the battlefield, hoping that either Putin would stay his hand or that the military operation would fail."

Again this illustrates perfectly Mearsheimer's prior prediction: "...the West is leading Ukraine down the primrose path, and the end result is that Ukraine is going to get wrecked."

The MSNBC peice further cites Peter Beinart:

George Kennan, the living legend who had fathered America’s policy of containment against the Soviet Union, called NATO expansion “a strategic blunder of potentially epic proportions.” Thomas Friedman, America’s most prominent foreign policy columnist, declared it the “most ill-conceived project of the post-Cold War era.” Daniel Patrick Moynihan, widely considered the most erudite member of the US Senate, warned, “We have no idea what we’re getting into.” John Lewis Gaddis, the dean of America’s Cold War historians, noted that, “historians—normally so contentious—are in uncharacteristic agreement: with remarkably few exceptions, they see NATO enlargement as ill-conceived, ill-timed, and above all ill-suited to the realities of the post-Cold War world.”


Another link from ZH [url]https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/russia-s-ukraine-invasion-may-have-been-preventable-n1290831[/url] or https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/russia-s-ukraine-invasion-may-have-been-preventable-n1290831 

[url]https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/03/to-punish-russia-the-liberal-order-attempts-to-suicide-itself.html[/url] or https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/03/to-punish-russia-the-liberal-order-attempts-to-suicide-itself.html

Whilst the rest of the world shows little or no enthusiasm to join with sanctions on Russia (China has ruled out sanctions on Russia), Europe is in hysteria. This will not fade quickly. The new ‘Iron Curtain’ erected in Brussels may last years.

But what of the unintended consequences to last Saturday’s ‘sanctions Blitzkrieg’: the ‘unknowable unknowns’ in Rumsfeld’s famous mantra? The unprecedented switch-off affecting a key part of the Globalist system did not download into a neutral, inert context – It developed into an emotionally hyper-charged atmosphere of Russophobia.

Now reality comes back to bite the inept minions who attempt to rule over us.

Europe can not sustain this, Russia can:

In sum, the changes set out by von der Leyen and the EU, with surging crude oil costs, could potentially tip global markets into crisis, and set off spiraling inflation. Cost inflation created by energy costs spiraling higher and food disruptions are not so easily susceptible to monetary remedies. If the daily drama of the war in Ukraine starts to fade from public view, and inflation persists, the political cost of von der Leyen’s Saturday drama is likely to be European-wide recession.

“Since well before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europeans have been struggling under the weight of runaway energy bills”, OilPrice.com notes. In Germany, for some, one month’s energy costs the same as they used to pay for a whole year; in the UK the government has raised the price cap for energy bills by a whopping 54%, and in Italy a recent 40% domestic energy cost hike could now nearly double.

The New York Times describes this impact on local businesses and industries as nothing short of “frightening”, as all kinds of small businesses across Europe (prior to last week’s events) have been forced to cease their operations as energy costs outweigh profits. Large industries have not been immune to sticker shock either. “Almost two-thirds of the 28,000 companies surveyed by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry this month rated energy prices as one of their biggest business risks … For those in the industrial sector, the figure was as high as 85 percent.”

And it is not only Europe. Energy prices are based on global markets. As are the prices for many other minerals and metals which have suddenly become rare


DJ NATO expansion is "killing the West", creating more global major insecurity and a very serious economic recession...

WHY ? Why Ukraine has to be in NATO while neutrality would most likely be even better for Ukraine ????

WHY ? Why do we even have NATO ? The Warsaw-pact (created in reaction to NATO-not the other way round !) ended decades ago...

NATO expansionalism only further is increasing Russia-Iran-China integration...

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
~Albert Einstein
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 08 2022 at 1:35am

Do you think Scott Ritter shared a jail cell with Hal Turner in the past? This is the scum that you get your disinformation from?


Ritter was targeted in two law enforcement sting operations in 2001.[46] He was charged in June 2001 with trying to set up a meeting with an undercover police officer posing as a 16-year-old girl.[47][48] He was charged with a misdemeanor crime of "attempted endangerment of the welfare of a child". The charge was dismissed and the record was sealed after he completed six months of probation.[48][49] After this information was made public in early 2003, Ritter said that the timing of the leak was politically motivated in order to silence his opposition to the Bush administration's push toward war with Iraq.[47][48][50]

Ritter was arrested again in November 2009[51] over communications with a police decoy he met on an Internet chat site. Police said that he exposed himself, via a web camera, after the officer said she was a 15-year-old girl.[1] Ritter said in his own testimony during the trial that he believed the other party was an adult acting out her fantasy.[52] The next month, Ritter waived his right to a preliminary hearing and was released on a $25,000 unsecured bail. Charges included "unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a communications facility, corruption of minors, indecent exposure, possessing instruments of crime, criminal attempt and criminal solicitation".[53] Ritter rejected a plea bargain and was found guilty of all but the criminal attempt count in a Monroe County, Pennsylvania courtroom on April 14, 2011.[1][54] In October 2011, he received a sentence of 1½ to 5½ years in prison.[55] He was sent to Laurel Highlands state prison in Somerset County, Pennsylvania in March 2012 and paroled in September 2014.[56]

Probably the only work a sexual predator could get after serving time in a state prison.

From 2014 until 2017, Ritter was a frequent columnist for HuffPost.[57] Since December 2019, he writes weekly op-eds for Russian state-controlled media RT.[58] 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 08 2022 at 1:48am

Britain says it would support Poland if it provided Ukraine with fighter jets and says Putin a 'spent force'

The British defence minister, Ben Wallace, has said that the UK would support Poland if it decided to provide Ukraine with fighter jets, but warned that it could bring the country “into direct line of fire”.

“I would support the Poles and whatever choice they make,” he told Sky News, reports Reuters, adding that the UK could not offer aircraft that the Ukrainians would be able to use.

“We would protect Poland, we’ll help them with anything that they need,” he said. “Poland will understand that the choices they make will not only directly help Ukraine, which is a good thing, but also may bring them into direct line of fire from countries such as Russia or Belarus.”

He said that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to British MPs later today will be “incredibly powerful”, describing him as an “amazing guy” and the “spirit of Ukraine”.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 08 2022 at 2:02am

The Moon of Alabama adds: “The whole U.S. campaign of a “Russian invasion” is disinformation designed to give cover for the upcoming attack of Ukraine on its rebellious Donbas region.”[21]

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ksc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 08 2022 at 2:43am

Attacks on Ukrainian hospitals, ambulances and heath care has increased 'rapidly', warns WHO

The World Health Organization today warned that attacks on Ukrainian hospitals, ambulances and other health care facilities have increased “rapidly” in recent days and vital medical supplies are running low.

The UN agency on Monday confirmed at least nine people had died in 16 attacks on health care facilities since the start of a Russian invasion, reports Reuters, but it did not say who was responsible.

The WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, said: “We will continue to update those numbers. They’ve been increasing quite rapidly over the past few days.”

Europe regional director Hans Kluge said the agency is working to urgently get medical supplies to Ukraine. Among the supplies running low are oxygen, insulin, PPE, surgical supplies and blood products.

He said oxygen, children’s vaccines and mental health expertise were among their top priorities, as well as women’s needs.

Kluge said:

Past conflicts have shown us that adolescent girls, women with disabilities and elderly women are in the most vulnerable situation.

They face an increased risk of suffering attacks by people outside the home and by armed groups as well as intimate partner violence and sexual abuse and exploitation.


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