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First published on May 2, 2022

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Introduction

The debate on human rights violations is invariably limited to those committed by  governments and other public institutions.

We seldom discuss human rights violations committed by large corporations, especially multinational corporations (MNCs). Moreover, in many cases, the violation of human rights by host country governments is motivated as a means to cover up MNCs’ human rights abuse.

There is another phenomenon which does not help our resolve to acquire a solution to the issue of corporate human rights abuse; it is the biased attitude of the Western media regarding these corporate violations. 

The media seldom report the incidence of corporate human rights violations, most likely due to the fact that they themselves are owned by large corporations.

Public debate on the issues of corporate human rights violations is vitally important not only in relation of global justice but also for the health of the global economy, especially for the survival of the economies of developing countries.

We need also to conduct an ideology-neutral and unbiased debate on the long-run impact of MNCs’ human rights violations on the developing countries.

This article deals with the following issues.

1. First, this paper will show how large, rich and powerful the MNCs are and how they can easily abuse human rights, damage the environment and destroy the economies of developing countries.
2. Second, this paper will discuss the types of human rights violated by MNCs. It will be shown that in many cases, the MNC violates both the economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) and the civil and political rights (CPR).
3. Third, in this section, this paper will discuss how and why the current national and international judiciary regimes are not equipped for dealing effectively human rights violations by MNCs.

Wealth and Power of MNCs

One of the significant phenomena of the last half a century has been the rise of huge global corporations called, multinational corporations (MNCs), which have impacted deeply not only the global economic system but also the global political dynamics.

The financial assets of 200 largest MNCs is larger than the combined assets of all countries of the world excluding 10 largest economies. According to data of the Amnesty International, of 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are corporations, namely MNCs, while 49 are Nation States.

What is more surprising is the fact that, despite their huge size, they grew fast; their profit rose between 1983 and 1999 by 36% as against the profit of the global economy which rose by 25%.

According to UNCTAD data, MNCs account for 70 % of the world trade.

Given the sheer size of MNCs, it is not difficult to imagine the huge impact of their human rights violations on social and economic justice and the well-being of the people.

This is particularly so in developing countries whose economy is tightly integrated into the global value chain (GVC) controlled by the MNCs.

The Global Value Chain (GVC)

The GVC has created a tightly knit global division of labour. Some countries are specialized in the extraction of raw materials; some countries have comparative advantage in labour intensive industries; some countries are excellent producers of knowledge-intensive products.

The following table provides some ideas about the MNCs

Table. Ten Largest MNC in terms of Revenue (USD billion)

There are value chains for agricultural products;

• there are value chains for automobiles;
• there are value chains for IT products;
• there are value chains for textile products.

In fact, every product has a value chain which can be national, regional or global.

The value chains play crucial role in the world economy. The number of workers hired by the GVC increased from 297 million in 1995 to 453 million in 2013 representing 20% of all workers in the world. In short, the GVC is one of the important devises invented by man.

It is true that GVC has been a major factor of the growth of the global economy and job creation. On the other hand, it is also true that they are the significant human rights violators. 

Typology of Human Rights Violations by MNC

There are three generations of human rights recognized by international covenants.

We have the civil and political rights (CPR) which is the first generation of human rights.

We have the economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR), called as the second generation human rights.

Then, we have the collective rights (CR) known as the third generation human rights. All these human rights are inspired from the Universal Declaration on Human Rights of 1948 (UDHR).

• The CPR refers to the freedom of thought and actions such as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion.
• The ESCR refers to the right to a decent and dignified life such as the rights to housing, foods, clothing, education and public health.
• The CR refers to the right to differentiated or specialized care rights of the native people, the elders, the women, the children, the disabled and the immigrants.

Violation of ESCR and CPR by MNCs

MNC’s violation of ESCR may be grouped into the violation of labour rights and the environmental rights abuse. In many cases, MNCs violate both labour rights and environmental rights.

In addition, MNCs may violate the CPR, in an indirect way. Suppose that the MNCs violate ESCR. The victims will protest. The host country government may oppress the movements of protest, which is the violation of CPR.

Labour rights include:

• the right to labour unionization,
• decent wages, reasonable working hours,
• no forced labour,
• absence of discrimination by gender/race and other healthy work conditions needed for decent and dignified living of workers.

Environmental rights include

• the rights to safe environment and,
• the right to use natural resources for the benefit of residents.

The following is a list of the cases of violations of ESCR and CPR:

• According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) report, of fifty GVCs’ employees, 94% is low wage only 6% represents regular jobs.
• As much as 60% of jobs under MNC control represents the informal sector of the economy.
• In 2006, Brazil workers of sugar plants worked 10 to 12 hours a day. More than 10,000 were freed by the Brazilian government from forced labour
• Child labour is frequent in cobalt mines in Haut Katanga and Lualaba Province of the Republic of Congo and other places.

Notorious Cases of ESCR and CPR Violations

Ali Enterprise Textile: On September 11, 2012, there was disastrous fire at the Ali Enterprise Textile factory in Karachi, Pakistan killing 262 due to the inadequate security measures provided by the head Company, in Germany, KiK. (Violation of ESCR)

Rana Plaza Building: In April 2013, the collapse of the Rana Plaza Building, Dhaka, Bangladesh killed 1,132 and injured 2,500. (Violation of ESCR)

Union Carbide India (UCI): In the Bhopal disaster of 1984, 24,000 died and 16,000 were injured due to the leakage of pesticide. The amount of the settlement was USD 470 million, only USD 40 per victim. The tragedy occurred in Bhopal Madhya Pradesh, India. (Violation of ESCR)

Nestle: In 1970, it introduced a formula of baby food requiring clean water leading to the production of bottled water for which it pumped underground water in many countries. For example, in Serra Da Matiqueira, Brazil, due to the Company’s pumping water, local residents had to suffer from the shortage of water.

Moreover, the Company was accused of hiring children younger than 15 in their Ivory Coast cocoa plantations. (Violation of ESCR)

Screenshot: The Guardian

TTY Corporation Co. Ltd: On January 18, 2012, in Kratie Province, Cambodia, the security guard of the Company shot the protesters. The dispute was about the land use for rubber plantation vs. cassava plantation. The Company wanted to transform the cassava field into rubber plants. The cassava file was the lifeline of the local people. As many as 23 villagers were injured. (Violation of ESCR and CPR)

Timbergreen Co. Ltd (2011.04.26): Chut Wutty, founder/Director of Nature/Resource Protection Group was shot to death, on April 26,2011, in Koh Kong Province, Cambodia, during the protest against the environmental damage caused by the company. (Violation of ESCR and CPR)

Unocal/COSO: The Company was a US gas/oil company operating in partnership with Myanmar military and it was building the Pipeline Yandana in the 1990s, the Myanmar military committed murder, rapes and displacement of a great number of people. (Violation of ESCR and CPR)

Image left: Senior Traditional Owner Yvonne Margarula was “deeply saddened” that uranium from Rio Tinto’s Ranger mine on Mirarr country in the Northern Territory was exported to Japanese nuclear companies including TEPCO. Source: Photo by Dominic O’Brien

Rio Tinto, a mining company: The Company had an agreement with the Papua New Guinea government to operate copper mine in Bougainville Island in East New Guinea. During the Company’s operation in the period, 1972-1988, the Company dumped one billion tons of wastes into the Jaba River causing the environmental damage.

The damage was so bad that the citizens of Bougainville sabotaged the Company’s operation. Huge protest demonstrations took place and 15,000 people were killed and 70,000 people were dislocated. (Violation of ESCR and CPR)

There are numerous unknown cases of human rights violations by MNCs. Nobody knows how widely spread these human rights violations are, because many cases are not reported for various reasons. But, it is possible that the extent of the corporate human rights abuses could be beyond our imagination. 

Framework for the Prosecution of MNCs Which Violate Human Rights

One of the challenges which the world has to devise is a proper judiciary system capable of preventing the MNCs from committing human rights violations and punishing them, when they abuse human rights.

At present, though limited in scope and effectiveness, we have the following mechanisms designed to prevent human rights violations by MNCs and punish them when they do violate human rights.

• The anti-bribery law
• The Court Rulings on human rights violations by MNCs
• The Corporate Social Responsibility Program
• International Efforts to cope with MNCs Human Rights Violations

The Anti-Bribery Law 

It appears that bribery is an integral part of humanity. It is reported that 25% of humanity has had bribe experiences. In 2011, the amount of bribes paid was as much as 5% of global GDP, or USD 2.6 trillion.

It seems that, due to bribery, many honest and competent companies are excluded from business contracts. Don John State of Anti-Corruption survey with 300 major companies showed that 40% of the respondents lost contracts because of bribes; they did not pay bribes.

There can be many complex determinants of human rights violations by MNCs. But, perhaps, the culture of bribes is the most important determinant. Because of bribes paid by MNCs to the host country leaders, MNCs can abuse easily human rights.

The transaction of bribes takes place within the global value chains which closely integrate the economies of national, especially those of developing countries.

The bribe involves the collusion between MNCs and the government of the host country, which leads to a situation where the host country overlooks the violations of the ESCR by MNCs.

As pointed out above, this invites citizens to undertake demonstration of protests which the host country government oppress because of bribe money received. This is the violation of CPR. Thus, bribes are the roots of violation of both ESCR and CPR.

It is scandalous to see that many of the famous MNCs are involved in bribes transactions.

The following is the list of the most notorious bribe donors. I will identify the MNCs their nationality, and the amount of settlement for the bribery.

As we will see it later, it is more than difficult to make MNCs accountable for their violation of human rights through international judiciary system.

However, it is fortunate that some developed countries have anti-bribery laws which punish corporation which are involved in bribery. In this way, MNCs human rights violations can be discouraged to some extent. Here is the list of bribe givers:

• Siemens, Germany, (USD 899 million);
• KBR Halliburton, U.S.A., (USD 539 million);
• BAE, the UK, (USD 400 million);
• Total SA, France, (USD398 million);
• Lucent, France, (USD 137 million);
• Snamprogetti, the Netherlands, (USD 365million);
• JCG, Japan, (USD 136 million);
• Alcatal S.A. France, (USD 95 million).

These MNCs are operating throughout the world.

The amount of court settlement represents the amount of fine imposed on the MNCs which are involved in bribery transactions. The important question is whether or not the host countries which are victims of the corruption are compensated for the social cost caused by the bribery.

The bribery imposes several types of social cost. The bribery may end up with the wrong legislations made for the benefit of MNC at the expense of the interests of the host country. The bribery many produce a situation in which the local citizens suffer from the infrastructure facilities of inferior quality, low wage, long hour of work, misallocation of resources and poor economic development.

It is common sense that the host countries which are targets of bribery should be compensated, but, it is rare that they are compensated. Fortunately, in recent years, there have been some movements for the compensation for the bribery led by the UK, France and the U.S.

For instance, in the past decade, in the UK, Tanzania received €41 million for the damage caused by bribery paid by UK MNCs. The Global Forum for Assets Recovery is promoting the sharing of the court settlement money with the host countries which are the victims of bribery.

In the U.S., under the Foreign Corruption Practice Act (FCPA), Thailand was compensated in 2008 and Haiti in 2009 for corruption practice by American Companies operating in these countries.

I had an occasion of helping a Canadian media agent to solve a case of corruption committed by a Canadian MNC in South Korea. The Canadian MNC had a contract with a suburban town near Seoul City for the construction of light railway connecting the town to Seoul City downtown.

The Canadian company supplied a bribe of millions of dollars to the town mayor and others. One of the conditions of the bribe was, among others, the production of a false project-feasibility study in which the estimation of the demand for the railway-traffic was twice the realistic estimate. It appears that the Company was not punished.

Court Rulings on Violations of Human Rights by MNCs

The great majority of cases of MNC human rights violations do not come from court hearing. Some are ignored; some settle the dispute outside the court. There are reasons for this.

1. First the court litigation is expensive.
2. Second, the host governments tend to avoid court battle, because it is often involved in the corruption. Furthermore, their judiciary systems are underdeveloped to handle the case of MNCs’ human rights violations.
3. Third, the home country of MNCs is also reluctant to bring its MNCs to the court, because it does not want to hurt the profit of its MNCs.
4. Fourth, it is difficult to prove human rights violations. The human rights violations are committed by subsidiaries of MNCs, but the responsibility to protect human rights belongs to MNCs.
5. Fifth, the defendant (MNC) can choose the court by virtue of so-called the Forum of Non-Conveniences (FNC). If it finds itself in unfavourable situation; it can choose another court poorly organized in developing countries which are likely to dismiss the case.

Some of the MNCs have several thousand subsidiaries. For example, the Samsung Group has more than 8,000 subsidiaries spread in 80 countries.

Thus, even if the case is brought to the court, the probability of final ruling is low.

According to the EU Parliament, in 2019, there were 35 cases of MNC human rights violations heard at the courts. Of these 35 cases, 12 were dismissed for lack of evidence, 17 were on-going and 4 had extra-judiciary settlements.

Court Hearings

In fact, the following cases have succeeded in having court hearings, but none has led to legal settlement for lack of evidence or for the use of FNC.

Thor Chemical Holding Ltd. UK Company: The plaintiff, Ngcobo sued on November 10, 1995 the Company for being exposed to hazardous mercury vapour in Kuazulu Natal Province, South Africa. Thor was recognized as responsible for its failure of providing proper safety design for the operation.

The plaintiff appealed to US courts. But, the defendant preferred to have it heard in South Africa, where the case was dismissed.

This is another case of the application of the FNC. Thor chose a South African court which was not equipped to handle the case.

Combior Inc. a Quebec Company: The Company belongs to a Quebec company, Omai Gold Mines Ltd of Guyana. Combior Inc, was sued in 2003 by Guyana residents for spilling toxic water polluting the River Essequibo. The Supreme Court of Canada allowed defendant’s use of FNC saying that the Guyana forum (court) is better suited, which was in a state of collapse.

Cape plc, a UK Company: In 2000, the Company was sued by Lubbe for making the plaintiff to be inhaling to asbestos dust causing cancer. The case was heard at a UK court, which found that the parent company had the duty to compensate the victim by virtue of the Tort Law

But, the parent company has too many subsidiaries and it claimed that it was not easy to verify the safety measures taken by all subsidiaries. The case was dismissed.

The Royal Dutch Petroleum, the Netherlands Company: The Company was sued by Wiwa family for Company’s environmental damage. The citizen of the Ogoni region in Nigeria protested. The Nigeria government in complicity with the Company committed torture, cruel treatment and summary execution of the protesters. Ken Saro-Wiwa, leader of the civic movement was hanged on November 10, 1996.

The case was heard in the US District Court and it was dismissed by virtue of FNC.

BHP: an Australia Company: The Company was sued by Rex Dagi on September 22, 1995 for having ruined a River. Dagi was representing 7,500 villagers. The river was OKTedi Fly River of 200 km long from Fly River to the Gulf of Papua. The company dumped since 1984, 100,000 tons of finely crushed rocks into the river. The River died. The Supreme Court of Victoria ruled guilty and the dispute was settle out of court in 1996

Freeport McMorgan and the Freeport McMorgan Copper and Gold, US company: The defendants were sued by Beanal for environmental damage, human right abuse and cultural genocide through the occupation of an area of 26,400 km². Beanal was representing the community of Tamika Jaya, Indonesia. The case was handled by the District Court of Louisiana. The case was dismissed.

Company Social Responsibility (CSR)

There is one way for the national government to prevent MNCs from violating human rights. It is the system of the Company Social Responsibility (CSR). But, the vast majority of MNCs do not have the CSR program. For instance, by 2014, only 272 out of 80,000 MNCs had social policy as a result of the National Action Plan.

In some countries, large companies are obligated by law or encouraged to undertake Company Social Responsibility (CSR) programs.

For instance, in China, the Government-Owned Enterprises (GOE) and the listed enterprises in the Shanghai stock market have the legal obligation to apply CSR.

In India, by virtue of the Company Act of 2013, major companies have the duty to allocate 2% o profit to CSR projects.

Similarly, Cambodia and Japan also have measures to encourage major enterprises to do something for CSR.

But, as pointed above, CSR is not adopted by most companies, and even if they do, it is not known to what extent these measures have contributed to the prevention of human rights violations.

International Efforts to  Cope with MNCs Human Rights Violations

In the 1970s and 1980s, there were the Sullivan Principles and the MacBride Principles.

The Sullivan Principle was adopted in the 1970 in South Africa in order to protect labour rights under the Apartheid and later, in 1999, it was unveiled by Rev Sullivan and the Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan.

On the other hand, the McBride Principles were proposed by New York City controller and endorsed by 4 religious people including Rev. McBride. The principles were intended to induce the US companies in Northern Ireland to protect labour rights.

In 1976, the established Guidelines for MNC related to labour rights, environment and consumer protection.

In Europe, there is the Council of Europe (COE) which is the principal organization of human rights protection. It has 47 member countries of which 28 are European countries.

The European Court of human rights (ECtHR) handles human rights violations; what it tries to accomplish is a proper balance market freedom and human rights.

In 1977, the ILO made the Tripartite Declaration (government, employer, employee) of Principles concerning MNC’s social policy in accordance with the  Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 (UNDHR), the International Covenant in Civil and Political Rights of 1978 (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1978 (ICESCR)

The principles include conditions regarding employment (no forced labour, no child labour), work conditions (wage, safety) and industrial relations (collective negotiation).

In 1972 the UN Assembly warned the coming conflict between MNCs and national governments.

In 1998, the UN Working Group was created by the Sub-Commission on Human Rights with the function of observing the activities of MNCs and protecting human rights.

In 2005, the UN Human Rights Commission asked the UN Secretary General to appoint a special representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) to study the issues related to human rights. Professor John Ruggie was appointed as SRSG.

Professor Ruggie proposed three pillars:

• The State has the duty to protect human rights abuses by MNCs
• MNCs should avoid violation of human rights
• Both State and businesses should have access to judicial and non-judicial remedies.

In 2011, the SRSG was given the second mandate to further examine the issue. The UN accepted his recommendation as guiding principles.

As a result of these guiding principles, the UNHRC visited various countries and members of the Global Compact.

The Global Compact

The Global Compact was created in 2000 and it is composed of 170 countries and 13,000 enterprises and 5,332 NGOs. It has proposed 10 principles related to human rights and business conducts.

• Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally claimed human rights.
• Business should not become complicit in human rights violations.
• Business should uphold labour organization.
• There should be no forced labour.
• There should be no child labour.
• There should be no discrimination of employment and occupation.
• Business should adopt precautionary approach to environment support.
• Businesses should take initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility.
• Businesses should promote and diffuse environment-friendly technologies.
• Businesses should work against corruption.

The efforts of the UNHRC has led to the establishment of several initiatives to better handle MNCs human rights violations including the Global Reporting Initiative, the International Finance Corporation Standard and the OECD Due Diligence Guidelines.

Moreover, some countries including France, the UK and the U.S. are enacting Due Diligence Law imposed on the parent companies so that the operation of subsidiaries be better monitored and controlled. 

Despite the efforts of some MNCs, national governments, international institutions and especially the devotion of the UNHRC, the violation of human rights by MNC is continuing without proper punishment. Why?

1. First, there are no international laws. What are called international laws of human rights are just a set of guidelines with no judicial power; there are no real human rights courts.  Laws with no courts to manage, they are not laws.
2. Second, neither the home country nor the host country is really interested in prosecuting MNCs which violate human rights for different reasons. The host country is reluctant to persecute MNCs either due to its collusion with the MNCs or inability to so, or both. The home country is not keen on punishing its MNCs operating in foreign countries.
3. Third, even if MNCs are brought to the courts in the home country or the host country, it is quasi impossible to persecute MNCs due to the lack of proof of human rights violations, because of the complexity of MNC-subsidiaries relations and, especially, due to the use of the bizarre system of Forum of Non-Conveniences (FNC) which allows the defendant to choose the courts which are likely to dismiss the case.

The interesting question is the future prospect of human rights violations of MNCs. It appears that the present state of human rights violations by MNCs is likely to get worse in the future due to the difficulty of establishing binding international law of human rights on the one hand and, on the other, the possibility of increasing power and wealth of MNCs as a result of the pandemic.

What is worrisome is the long-run impact of MNCs’ human rights abuse on the developing economies.

The presence of MNCs in developing countries are supposed to be beneficial in the long run, for they would contribute to the long-run economic development of these countries through FDI, creation of jobs, transfer of technology, promotion of exports, workers training, development of free market and other constructive programs.

However, in many cases, developing countries are caught in the trap of cheap labour and low-cost natural resources partly due to their collusion with MNCs which violate human rights.

But, as long as developing countries remain the victims of MNCs human rights violations and as long as the host country leaders collide with MNCs for their own greed at the expense of the interest of the people, it would be difficult for them to free themselves from poverty and become “developed countries” They may remain “developing countries” forever.

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Dr. Joseph H. Chung is a professor of economics and member of the Research Center on Integration and Globalization (CEIM) of the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM).

He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

Featured image is from Rainforest Action Network/flickr/cc

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An Aeromexico Boeing 787-9, registration XA-ADL performing flight AM-34 from Monterrey (Mexico) to Madrid, SP (Spain), was enroute at FL370 about 80nm west of Richmond,VA (USA) when the crew decided to divert due to the first officer becoming unwell. The aircraft descended to FL200, initially aimed for a return to Monterrey then turned and overflew New Orleans,LA (USA) before setting course to Mexico City (Mexico) where the aircraft landed safely about 3:45 hours after the decision to turn around.

The aircraft remained on the ground for about 3 hours, then departed again, set course directly to Madrid and landed in Madrid with a delay of about 8:45 hours.

Passengers reported the crew announced the first officer had a medical problem and they were returning to Monterrey, later they were informed they were diverting to Mexico City.

.

.

Pilot incapacitations inflight in 2024 (six so far):

Jun. 12, 2024 – Nesma Airlines Flight NE-130 (CAI-TIF) Cairo, Egypt to Taif (Saudi Arabia) – pilot Captain Hassan Youssef Adas in his late 30s collapsed and died from a presumed heart attack

Jun. 4, 2024 – Aeromexico Flight AM-34 (MTY-MAD) from Monterrey (Mexico ) to Madrid (Spain), first officer became unwell, had a medical problem, flight diverted to Mexico City.

Mar. 14, 2024 – British Airways BA-2272 (JFK-LGW) New York to London-Gatwickone of the pilots became incapacitated, plane forced to divert to St.John’s, NL, Canada.

Feb. 17, 2024 – Lufthansa Flight LH-1140 (FRA-SVQ) Frankfurt to Seville on Feb.17, 2024 – First Officer Incapacitated, plane turned around back to Madrid

Feb. 16, 2024 – DELTA – NYC – 58 year old Capt Geoffrey John Brock died unexpectedly on Feb.16, 2024 during a layover in Honolulu, HI

Jan. 16, 2024 – LATAM Brasil Flight LA-3744 (BSB-JPA) Brasilia to Joao Pessoa on Jan.16, 2024 – Pilot Incapacitated, plane diverted to Salvador for safe landing

My Take…

I have been tracking pilot incapacitations in-flight since the start of 2023.

Fortunately there are fewer incapacitations in 2024 compared to 2023, I’d say about half as many, but a lot of pilot deaths in general.

This would suggest the COVID-19 Vaccine Injury profile is changing from acute cardiac events to more chronic illnesses, especially cancer.

Lots of pilots are dying from cancer.

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Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.   

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More than two years into the Ukrainian conflict, the Kiev regime is facing pressure from both Western allies and the Global South to come to the negotiating table to reach a “flexible” peace with Russia, Bloomberg reported. However, this is complicated because, according to a former US official, making any concessions to Russia “would be fatal” for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to the Bloomberg article, Ukraine is approaching the third winter of the conflict against the backdrop of reduced Western support. Germany is allocating much less funds in its budget to Ukraine, and “France is grappling with its own ballooning deficit.”

Despite Zelensky’s statements that he is unwilling to negotiate any concessions with Moscow, senior Ukrainian officials admitted to the outlet that “an endgame should come into play.”

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Kiev’s possible membership in NATO has not been confirmed even by US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris who, in turn, had promised support for Ukraine.

The article admits that in addition to the West, another part of the world, the Global South, also wants peace talks between Russia and Ukraine to take place. Unlike the West, countries in the Global South, particularly Brazil and China, have consistently stated that Russia must be included in peace negotiations.

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For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s peaceful settlement of the conflict calls for Ukrainian troops to withdraw from the new Russian regions, demands that Kiev renounce its intentions to join NATO and adopt a neutral, non-aligned, and nuclear-free status, carry out the country’s demilitarisation and denazification, and lift anti-Russia sanctions.

Daria Zarivna, the aide to Zelensky’s chief of staff, announced that the second peace summit will not be held in November, as originally planned.

“The second Peace Summit will not take place in November. But everything for its preparation should already be ready. So far, thematic conferences are being held on each item of the Formula, which ends with the adoption of communiqués. The main provisions of these communiqués will form the basis for the future peace plan of the Second Summit,” Zarivna said on October 8.

According to Stephen Bryen, former deputy assistant secretary of the US Department of Defense, Zelensky cancelled the second Ukraine peace summit after realising that almost no one would attend.

Bryen’s beliefs on the summit’s cancellation are based on US presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s statement that she will not talk to Putin about Ukraine without Zelensky.

“Meanwhile Zelensky, who was just forced to cancel a forthcoming ‘peace summit’ (officially postponed to a future time) because no one wanted to come, has made it clear he will not negotiate with Moscow under any circumstances,” he wrote in his Substack article.

Furthermore, as the Ukrainian army begins to disintegrate, Zelensky is relying on “neo-Nazi elite brigades for his protection,” Bryen noted. “Zelensky understands that any concession he might make to Russia would be fatal for him.”

The former deputy assistant secretary to the Department of Defense concluded his article:

“There is growing unease in the United States about the hundreds of billions wasted on Ukraine, with no settlement now possible.  At some point that policy will result in a major walk-back from the NATO alliance, and from any commitment to defend Europe when it really does little to defend itself.”

In effect, Zelensky is facing increased pressure from the West and the Global South to concede on his ridiculous policy of not negotiating with the Kremlin so that the war can be concluded. However, because he has relied on neo-Nazi formations to battle Russian forces and to preserve the regime, it also puts him in a dangerous position as the Ukrainian neo-Nazis want the war to continue.

At the same time, Zelensky is evidently unwilling to relinquish power by his refusal to step down or hold the elections that were due in May, meaning that the war will continue since he relies on neo-Nazis to maintain his power and preserve the regime. These neo-Nazis will kill him, according to Bryen, if he ends the war.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from the Public Domain

Prior to the explosions that destroyed the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea, US Navy ships were present at the location, according to a local harbormaster quoted in the Danish newspaper Politiken.

The Nord Stream 2 pipelines, a major infrastructure project aimed at delivering natural gas from Russia to Europe, were targeted in an act of sabotage in September 2022, with Moscow pointing fingers at the West or Ukraine.

In August, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukrainian businessmen had funded the attack on the project, although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had ordered to halt the attack at the CIA’s request. 

Russia, however, insisted that the reports shared by WSJ were a mere tactic to divert attention from the actual perpetrators, saying its findings were improbable. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov affirmed that Russian Intelligence is certain that major states were involved in the sabotage. 

Despite being published on September 26, Politiken’s article received little attention. But on Tuesday, it reappeared on X when Glenn Greenwald and other well-known independent journalists repeated the claims.

According to the story, American warships were operating in the region east of the Danish island of Bornholm with their transponders turned off.

The article included statements from John Anker Nielsen, the harbormaster of the Danish port of Christianso, which lies near Bornholm. He stated that he had opted to publish information on the September 2022 events, despite originally being “not allowed to say a thing” about them.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image: Half a million tons of methane rise from the sabotaged Nord Stream pipeline. Photo: Swedish Coast Guard

These lines were written on CNN, the voice of the Democratic Party close to the US neocons, at a time when US President Biden announced that he had not yet received a guarantee that Israel would not target nuclear facilities in a possible counter-attack on Iran. This is clearly an expression of the US being held hostage by Netanyahu.

In this case, we can say that the world is under Israel’s mortgage until the US presidential elections on November 5, 2024. If Iran’s nuclear facilities are hit, it goes without saying that this crisis will grow very large and humanity will face multi-dimensional crises. It is possible to say that this situation will bring about the collapse of the US faster than the collapse of the Roman Empire.

Iran’s Attack on Selected Targets on October 1

After Iran’s attack on Israel with around 300 missiles and drones on April 14, 2024, the second attack with 180 ballistic missiles on October 1, 2024 revealed the serious vulnerabilities of Israel’s air defense system again. The strategic Nevatim and Hatzerim air bases were hit in this attack. Today, Israel has a progressive air defense system supported by the US. The Iron Dome Low Altitude Air Defense System; the David’s Sling Medium/High-Altitude Ballistic Missile Defense System and the Arrow 2/3 High Altitude Ballistic Missile Defense System operate in conjunction with the central command and control system (IMDO). This system is also supported by the American Patriot and THAAD systems and the high precision and range X-band radars located in the Necef Desert, Keren and Kürecik Malatya.

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Image shows the Israel’s Nevatim Airbase and the Commanding Officer of the base, Brig. Gen. Yotam Sigler. (Image by Tugce Atmaca/Türkiye Today)

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US Navy and Israeli Air Defense

The Pentagon announced that 81 UAVs and 6 ballistic missiles were shot down by American air defense efforts in the April 14 attack. Following the October 1 attack, the Pentagon announced that a dozen of the 180 missiles were shot down by two of the three American destroyers in the Mediterranean (USS Bulkeley and USS Cole).

Four of these ships, which have the Arleigh Burke class SM 3 high altitude ballistic missile defense system, are permanently stationed at the US naval base in Cadiz/Rota, Spain. These ships are dynamically assigned and deployed to the crisis region when the ballistic missile threat to US allies and friends increases. When necessary, the ships in question, which serve in the Eastern Mediterranean, receive detection and tracking information for exo-atmospheric prevention from the American X-Band radars located in Malatya/Kürecik and Keren in the Necef Desert. One of the main information inputs and cross-tell stations of the Aegis command and control system of the ships in question, which are connected to the NATO Ballistic Missile Defense System, in Europe and the Mediterranean basin is the “Kürecik Radar” in Malatya. This radar was brought to our country through the NATO Agreement. However, it is completely American property and Turkiye has no discretion regarding its operation. They work online with the American Aegis destroyers serving in the Eastern Mediterranean. With this information, it is possible to shoot down Iranian missiles aimed at Israel at an early stage. Therefore, on the one hand, saying that “Israel’s target is Turkey” and on the other hand, transmitting information to American warships protecting Israel via the Americans’ X Band radar in Kürecik is a very contradictory, even oxymoronic situation.

Decrease in American Naval Support to Israel

In the October 1 attack, we see that the US provided support to Israel with roughly 50% fewer ships compared to the April 14 attack. Most importantly, there was no American aircraft carrier strike group in the Mediterranean when the October 1 attacks took place. The USS Truman aircraft carrier strike group only entered the Mediterranean from Gibraltar on the morning of October 3, 2024. This group also includes an Aegis-class cruiser and 2 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers that can support Israeli air defense. On the other hand, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group, which was supposed to be in the Pacific theater of operations and was dispatched to the region for Israel, was in the Arabian Sea during the October 1 attack. Keeping this group at the entrance to the Persian Gulf for the purpose of deterring Iran rather than preventing air attacks against Israel is a preference of American decision-makers. However, what is striking is the small number of American ships sent to support the defense of Israel. It was expected that Iran would attack Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Haniyeh. The assassination of Lebanese Shiite leader Nasrallah last week increased this possibility. However, there has been no change in the number of American warships. The arrival of the USS Truman aircraft carrier coup group in the Eastern Mediterranean will only occur as these lines are being read on 6th October, five days after the October 1 attacks.

Let us remind that the record number of ships in terms of military support and assistance to Israel was set in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The US had a presence in the Eastern Mediterranean with 60 ships during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

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The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) (From the Public Domain)

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American Sea Power Is in Weakness

The fact that the US had only three Aegis class (Arleigh Burke) destroyers with air defense capability in the Eastern Mediterranean during the October 1 Iranian attack is not a strategic choice but rather a weakness in its navy. As of September 30, the day before the October 1 attack, the US Navy’s combat force was 297 ships, (237 combat ships and 60 auxiliary ships). Of these ships, 76 combat ships and 30 auxiliary ships (106 ships in total) were deployed. However, 71 of these 106 ships were underway. US sources do not specify how many of these ships were combatants and how many were auxiliary ships. If we assume, as a rough estimate, that 55 ships were combat ships and 16 were auxiliary ships, we understand why there were only 3 Aegis-class destroyers in the Mediterranean when the October 1 attack took place. The fact that 106 ships out of a total of 295 were deployed is an indication of how low the ships’ combat readiness was. In addition to the fact that it will take years to raise the combat readiness of the remaining ships, let us remember that the warships held in the American reserve fleets to be used in mobilization are on average over 40 years old and in poor condition.

Damage Control Project of the Commander of the United States Naval Forces

Image: ADM Lisa M. Franchetti, Chief of Naval Operations (From the Public Domain)

At the end of her one-year term as force commander, US Navy Commander Admiral Lisa Franchetti prepared a road map (navigation plan) titled NAVPLAN 24 in September 2024. This report summarizes the difficult period that the US naval force is in, by its highest-level executive. Franchetti, the 33rd Chief of Naval Forces (CNO), has the following action plan in his sailing plan, which he calls Project 33:

“We cannot create a larger conventional navy in a few years, or focus solely on numbers without the right capabilities to win the struggle for sea control… But even without these resources, we will develop our war readiness, capabilities and capacity. We must understand that the navy faces serious financial and industrial constraints.”

The most important emphasis in the report is that they are preparing to fight China in 2027. This issue is included in the Sailing Plan as follows:

“The President of the People’s Republic of China has ordered his forces to be ready for war by 2027. We will be more ready.’’

Franchetti, who said that they would be more ready with an extremely childish expression, later added:

‘’The defense industry of the People’s Republic of China is currently in a war footing with the largest shipbuilding infrastructure in the world, which is currently under the command of the navy.’’

However, the fact that the US Naval Forces Commander focused on President Xi Jinping’s discourse in such an important document is a serious example of weakness. A naval power that claims to dominate the oceans and seas since 1945 accepts its rival taking the initiative to choose the time of war.

Then let’s ask, for example, what will happen if the US-Iran war starts and China decides to go to war before 2027?

The Problem of Increasing the Level of War Readiness

Another striking issue in the document is that the target is to increase the current force to 80% combat readiness. This means if 106 of the 297 ships currently available are deployed, the combat readiness level is around 35%. If we accept that some of the ships in the port at their home bases will be made ready for combat in a short time, we can accept that the readiness level will be around 50% with the highest optimism. Admiral Franchetti aims to increase this level to 80% in the next three years. We are really faced with a picture that is very contrary to the history of the US Navy. As it is understood from both the document and Franchetti’s statements, the real problem is the maintenance and repair problem of the ships. Warships at the end of deployments and tasking cycle they go through maintenance/ overhaul period and upon completion the combat training cycle starts before the ship totally becomes combat ready. This process, which would take 12-15 months if everything worked normally, no longer works in the US. According to Franchetti’s statement in the navigation plan, the maintenance of surface fleets (cruisers, destroyers, amphibious ships and corvettes) is currently about 2,700 days behind, or almost seven years. This is an incredible delay.

The Role Model of the US Navy: Ukraine and the Houthis

The document very interestingly refers to the asymmetric naval successes of the fleetless Ukraine and the bare foot Houthi fighters in the Black and Red Seas, implying that the weakness of the navy will be offset by unmanned vehicles and robotic systems.

In order to prepare for a conflict with China in the Pacific in 2027, the report emphasizes a new class of unmanned systems to create low-cost, lethal air and surface systems that would disrupt an invasion beyond Taiwan. However, he does not mention that the US is an ocean state and that they will need large-tonnage platforms that can navigate the ocean to move from the CONUS to areas of interest. For example, the foundation of American naval power depends on bases and the support of these bases in wartime. Only in this way can warships in distant areas receive fuel, ammunition and personnel support. This support also needs to be created in the homeland.

However, how that logistical support will be provided from the homeland to these bases? The American merchant fleet is insufficient. They have only 200 ships flying their own flag. The US auxiliary ship fleet, MSC (Military Sealift Command), also has very limited resources. They have 19 offshore logistics support and fuel supply tankers; 14 ammunition transporters; 15 military supply transporters; 21 pre-positioned stockpiling supply ships in overseas bases and around 60 foreign-flagged leased ships. Last month, 17 of these were put into reserve status due to lack of personnel. Half of the rest are not ready for action anyway. This fleet is not even sufficient for their own needs, let alone their allies.

It is clear that these numbers will be extremely insufficient in a two-front war with China and Russia on the Atlantic/European and Asia/Pacific fronts. The combat vehicles of just one mechanized division weigh over 100 thousand tons. According to NATO’s cold war plans, the amount of cargo that needed to be reinforced from the US for supplementary supplies in the first months of a war in Europe was around 25 million tons. The military operation requirement was 100 million barrels of petroleum products.

Now let’s add the Pacific theater of operations to this picture, where the distances are much longer. We are faced with a terribly difficult picture. Because the most important US allies in the Pacific, such as Japan, Australia and South Korea, do not have oil. At least they are dependent on the US for fuel.

Let’s add the war that will continue with Russia in Europe to this situation. I am not even mentioning the sea lift that will last for months in the Pacific and the Atlantic, and therefore the need to protect these convoys against a three-dimensional threat. Except for 11 nuclear aircraft carriers, every ship needs to refuel at sea several times during ocean crossings. However, they do not have enough ships. MSC ships also do not have surface or air defense systems to defend themselves. Under these conditions, it is not clear how the Pacific front will be supported if war breaks out with China tomorrow.

American Sea Power Is Chronically Insufficient

In June 2023, the American Congress approved the naval target of 381 ships. In addition, it is aimed to have 397 ships by 2053. However, today, in order to complete the 381 ship target by 2030, a 20% budget increase is needed, which is not possible under today’s debt stock burden.

Today, the backbone of American naval power is nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN), other than nuclear aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines (SSBN).

However, today, nearly 40% of submarines are under repair and the delays in repair are enormous. If aircraft carriers operate in waters close to the continent – ​​for example, in the South or East China Sea – they are likely to be hit by hypersonic and ballistic missiles. In short, the US is unprepared for a major power conflict which is developing.

If a conflict with China were to break out tomorrow, the American Navy would have very little chance of winning because it is not ready. The logistical difficulties of building and sustaining American naval power in the short and medium terms are incredible. If the problem of replenishing existing weapons and ammunition stocks is added to this, the seriousness of the situation becomes apparent.

Image: This photograph of Seth Cropsey was taken at the Army-Navy Club in Washington, D.C. on March 25, 2024. (Licensed under CC0)

According to former American Undersecretary of the Navy Seth Cropsey, if the US does not increase the production of the weapons it will need in the Indo-Pacific, especially hypersonic cruise and ballistic missiles and short-range anti-ship weapons, it will lose a war for Taiwan in weeks. In its current state, the US Navy cannot maintain its bases and allies in the Indo-Pacific Oceans and its transoceanic logistical support line.

The parameters of the US-USA balance in the Cold War and today’s US-China balance are extremely different. The USSR could not defeat the US because the American Navy’s enormous size of 600 ships confined the Soviets to the continent and weakened them. China, on the other hand, is far more advanced at sea than the US naval power today. China has the advantage in terms of both its geographical location, naval power and number of anti-ship missiles. The conditions are more in its favor than ever to bring this to a dynamic conclusion. The US is weakening its power in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf because of Israel. China, on the other hand, will use every opportunity to protect and develop its own geopolitical interests, especially in Taiwan and the South China Sea, as long as the Israel-Iran crisis continues.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Ret Admiral Cem Gürdeniz, Writer, Geopolitical Expert, Theorist and creator of the Turkish Bluehomeland (Mavi Vatan) doctrine. He served as the Chief of Strategy Department and then the head of Plans and Policy Division in Turkish Naval Forces Headquarters. As his combat duties, he has served as the commander of Amphibious Ships Group and Mine Fleet between 2007 and 2009. He retired in 2012. He established Hamit Naci Blue Homeland Foundation in 2021. He has published numerous books on geopolitics, maritime strategy, maritime history and maritime culture. He is also a honorary member of ATASAM.  

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: The Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) transits the South China Sea. Reagan is part of Task Force 70/Carrier Strike Group 5, conducting underway operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Rawad Madanat)

The Ukrainian population in the United Kingdom has increased from 40,000 to 160,000 people following the start of the Russian special military operation in February 2022, according to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford. Using data from the University of Oxford, British media said the rapid increase in these immigrants could pose a problem for the British government.

The Economist said the British government allowed people from Ukraine to enter if Britons offered to house them for six months, unlike asylum seekers from other countries who are usually housed in hotels. According to the report, two-thirds of adult Ukrainians arriving in the UK are women because men can only leave Ukraine if they are outside conscription age, have a health problem or have at least three children.

According to the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS), 80% of migrants are furloughed, and most are employed. UK media reported that a fifth of them work remotely for their former employers, but many are underemployed.

The ONS survey asked Ukrainians where they would prefer to live if they believed their country was safe. In April, 68% gave the UK as their answer, up from 52% the previous year. Almost half have not visited Ukraine since leaving the country.

The Economist noted that while the British government allows Ukrainians to work and receive benefits, including healthcare, they are treated as temporary visitors rather than refugees.

After spending five years in Britain, most foreign workers and refugees can apply for permanent residency, as in the case of Hong Kong citizens who entered under a special visa regime. Ukrainians, however, are only allowed to stay for three years and extend their visas for a further 18 months, the outlet reported.

Policymakers need to be aware of the scale of the illegal migrant problem, said Denis Kierans, senior researcher at Oxford’s COMPAS migration centre, as

“these are people who are living and working in the UK, but who are operating outside the mainstream tax and benefits system. What that means is the state is missing out on their contributions to the public purse while they end up at the fringes of society, at risk of exploitation and destitution.”

The report noted that the UK’s new Labour government faces a “dilemma,” especially if the conflict in Ukraine continues. The state will have to decide on the future of Ukrainians who arrived in the UK and quickly settled there with their children.

“These regulations were created by the last Tory government. They leave a dilemma for the new Labour one, particularly if the war drags on,” The Economist reported.

According to official figures published days ago, the British economy grew less than previously estimated between April and June, expanding by 0.5%, down from an initial reading of 0.6%. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the upcoming Budget will be “painful,” which brings to question how Britain will continue to not only fund the thousands of Ukrainians living in the country, but how to continue supporting the Kiev regime, which insists on an unwinnable war against Russia because of Western backing.

The UK Ministry of Defence recently announced that Ukraine will receive £3.5 billion to purchase British-made weapons.

“The UK’s support for Ukraine is ironclad. We continue to lead the way in providing military aid, but our support is much broader than simply providing equipment. Our flourishing defence industrial relationship symbolises the work happening across Government and the private sector to ramp up and speed up our support. By deepening our ties with Ukraine’s defence industry, we are expanding own industrial capacity, while boosting Ukraine’s own capabilities. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, and we will provide support for as long as it takes,” British Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard, said on October 6.

Yet, while the UK has been assigning massive resources to Ukraine’s failed war efforts, which now stand at least over £16 billion in contributions, the country continues to be flooded by illegal immigrants, which further strains the economy and contributes to the impoverishment of citizens. According to Oxford University research, migrant numbers to the UK top those of Germany (up to 700,000), Spain (469,000), Italy (458,000), and France (300,000). The number of people crossing the Channel into the UK in 2024 has grown 5% since September 2023, with 26,612 people in 503 boats.

In this context, it appears that London has all its priorities wrong. Rather than contributing to a peaceful resolution in Ukraine so Ukrainians can return home peacefully, and rather than dealing with the massive numbers of illegal immigrants entering the country, the Starmer administration has as a top priority the prolonging of war, which only leads to further death and destruction as well as the continued and persistent impoverishment of British citizens.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Ukrainian children are fleeing Russian aggression. (Licensed under CC BY 2.0)

Israel’s wanton aggression against Lebanon has overshadowed an important decision made by the UN General Assembly linked to the violence and wars that mark our present moment in history.

On Wednesday, 18^th September 2024, 124 nations voted in favour of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution to end the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in Palestine.  

The resolution was prompted by a ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest judicial body, which had ordered Israel to withdraw from Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The ICJ decision of 19^th July 2024 was undoubtedly influenced by Israel’s blatant genocide in Gaza and its massacres in the West Bank. The UN General Assembly gave Tel Aviv 12 months to withdraw from the OPT.

Given Israel’s track record, no one should expect Israel to abide by the UNGA’s resolution. Nonetheless, the 124 nations that endorsed the resolution should go all out to ensure that the resolution is implemented. They represent almost two-thirds of the total membership of the UN. Their vote, viewed collectively, is the voice of the vast majority of the human family. The huge public gatherings held in so many different parts of the world in the course of the last one year against Israel’s genocide and for the right of the Palestinians to establish their own sovereign, independent state in accordance with UN resolutions attest to the overwhelming support that the Palestinian quest for self- determination enjoys among the people of the world. 

The 124 member states of the UN that endorsed the 18^th September resolution should remember that the ICJ decision that underscores the UNGA resolution requires member states not to recognize “the unlawful presence of Israel in the OPT” and not to render aid or assistance to Israel in maintaining its illegal occupation. Translated into tangible action, the 124 states should appeal to the five veto wielding members of the UN Security Council not to use the veto to repudiate the UNGA vote when the issue is brought to the Council for its endorsement. Needless to say, the resolution can only be enforced by the Council. 

If there is any indication that the veto is going to be used to deny the will of the majority of the UN membership, the endorsers of the UNGA resolution should meet and set up a committee that will explore ways and means by which the resolution can be rendered meaningful.

Countries such as South Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brazil can be part of such a committee.

The UN Secretary-General will also be a crucial member of the Committee. Apart from organizing a permanent ceasefire, the Committee can also ensure that food, fuel, medicines and other essentials are readily available to the people of Gaza and other parts of Palestine. The proposed Committee should also facilitate the release of all hostages presently held by Hamas. Most of all, the Committee should lay out a framework for the resolution of all conflicts between Israel and Palestine and Israel and its neighbours. The Committee’s final recommendations should be presented to the UNGA for its approval. 

The UNGA’s approval would signal that the General Assembly —and not the Security Council— is the body within the UN that decides on fundamental issues of war and peace. This is the empowerment of the General Assembly that we should work towards. An empowered GA will give hope to people everywhere.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar is President of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST), Malaysia. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

Featured image is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

A Eslováquia parece estar cada vez mais firme na sua posição dissidente dentro da OTAN. O país não está disposto a aceitar a Ucrânia como membro, uma vez que o primeiro-ministro eslovaco deixou recentemente claro que fará tudo o que estiver ao seu alcance para impedir que Kiev seja aceita na aliança. Isto mostra como a opinião crítica em relação à Ucrânia está a começar a crescer dentro da OTAN e pode tornar-se uma tendência no futuro.

Robert Fico disse recentemente que o seu país continuará a opor-se à adesão da Ucrânia à OTAN. Segundo ele, só impedindo a adesão da Ucrânia à OTAN será possível evitar uma guerra mundial, tendo em conta a atual situação de conflito entre o país e a Federação Russa – na qual a OTAN já participa quase diretamente através do envio sistemático de dinheiro, armas e mercenários.

Durante uma entrevista a um canal de televisão local, prometeu ao povo eslovaco que, enquanto permanecer no cargo de Primeiro-Ministro, fará tudo o que estiver ao seu alcance para impedir que Kiev seja aceita na OTAN. Na mesma linha, Fico disse que usará a sua influência para fazer com que os legisladores eslovacos sigam o seu exemplo e tomem uma posição contra a Ucrânia, tentando assim criar um consenso entre os políticos do país.

“Enquanto eu for o primeiro-ministro da República Eslovaca, levarei os legisladores, sobre os quais tenho controle como presidente do partido, a nunca concordarem com a adesão da Ucrânia à OTAN (…) a entrada da Ucrânia na OTAN serviria como uma boa base para uma terceira guerra mundial”, disse ele.

Esta postura não surpreende, considerando que Fico é conhecido pela sua abordagem realista do conflito entre a Rússia e a Ucrânia. Ele tem sido um dos críticos mais veementes da guerra, defendendo uma atitude neutra por parte da Eslováquia e de outros países da OTAN. Devido à sua agenda pró-paz, Fico é frequentemente descrito pela propaganda ocidental como um político “pró-Rússia” ou um “fantoche do Kremlin”, quando na verdade tudo o que ele defende é simplesmente a perspectiva mais racional nos interesses do seu próprio país.

Juntamente com Robert Fico, Viktor Orban da Hungria é outro político europeu que critica muito a posição da OTAN na guerra. Juntos, ambos os líderes começam a liderar uma espécie de “grupo dissidente” dentro da OTAN e da UE. Fico e Orban não são “pró-russos” ou “antiocidentais”; estão simplesmente a tentar fazer com que a Europa atue de forma soberana no conflito, evitando participar em planos de guerra que beneficiam apenas os EUA e que parecem verdadeiramente suicidas para os outros membros da OTAN.

Fico também têm criticado veementemente o conluio ocidental com o nazismo ucraniano. Recentemente, fez declarações reconhecendo a presença de símbolos nazistas entre as tropas ucranianas, dizendo que a comunidade internacional deveria assumir uma postura firme contra isto e não permanecer em silêncio apenas para servir os interesses geopolíticos ocidentais.

“Todos falamos de fascismo, de nazismo, enquanto toleramos silenciosamente unidades que se deslocam pela Ucrânia e que têm um rótulo muito claro e estão ligadas a movimentos que hoje consideramos perigosos e proibidos. Por se tratar de uma luta geopolítica, ninguém se importa (…) Quero prestar homenagem às vítimas, não com um discurso patético, mas quero apelar à ação (…) A comunidade internacional deveria reconhecer que as tropas com insígnias nazistas, que muitas vezes parecem agir como tal, não podem lutar na Ucrânia”, disse ele.

Posições como as de Fico e Orbán deverão crescer cada vez mais, como se viu nas recentes eleições europeias, onde partidos de direita obtiveram resultados positivos em vários países. Ao contrário do que dizem os meios de comunicação ocidentais, a ascensão da direita não está relacionada com qualquer tipo de “extremismo” ou “fascismo”, mas com o fato de os partidos de direita serem muitas vezes os mais críticos no apoio à Ucrânia. A tendência é que em breve haja cada vez mais políticos eleitos nos países europeus, tanto direitistas como esquerdistas, criticando a agenda pró-guerra da UE e da OTAN – o que traz esperança para um futuro com maior diálogo entre a UE e a Rússia.

Além disso, deve ser enfatizado que, independentemente da posição de Fico, é improvável que a Ucrânia seja aceite na OTAN a qualquer momento. Kiev foi escolhida pela aliança para servir como proxy na guerra contra a Rússia. A OTAN não está interessada em aceitar como membro um país em guerra, e é muito mais provável que a Ucrânia continue a servir como bucha de canhão até o seu colapso absoluto.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

Artigo em inglês : Slovakia not willing to approve Ukraine’s NATO membership, InfoBrics, le 9 octobre 2024.

Imagem : InfoBrics

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Lucas Leiroz, membro da Associação de Jornalistas do BRICS, pesquisador do Centro de Estudos Geoestratégicos, especialista militar.

Você pode seguir Lucas Leiroz em: https://t.me/lucasleiroz e https://x.com/leiroz_lucas

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared that his government “will never stop selling weapons to Israel” during a speech at the House of Commons on 7 October.

His statement came in response to a question by MP Zarah Sultana, who pressed Starmer on whether London would “finally do what’s legally and morally right and end the government’s complicity in Israeli war crimes by banning all arms sales to Israel, including F-35 fighter jets, not just 30 licenses.”

“No,” Starmer replied bluntly. “But it is a really serious point. Banning all sales would mean none for defensive purposes. None for defensive purposes on the anniversary of 7 October and days after a huge attack by Iran into Israel would be a wrong position for this government and I will not take it,” Starmer said.

Zarah Sultana: "Will he do what is morally and legally right and end the government's complicity in war crimes by banning all arms sales to Israel, including F-35 fighter jets, not just 30 licenses? Yes or no?"

Keir Starmer: "No." pic.twitter.com/NjK3DFfa8M

— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) October 7, 2024

His statement came during a solemn session to mark the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, which saw the killing of about 1,200 Israelis – many of them at the hands of their own army under the Hannibal Directive.

Starmer’s assertion came days after French President Emmanuel Macron called for a halt on arms deliveries to Israel. 

“I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza,” Macron told broadcaster France Inter on Saturday.

Top officials in the British government were warned in September that they could face criminal liability if they continue to export UK-made components for F-35 fighter jets that Israel is using to carpet bomb Gaza and Lebanon.

The letters, sent by Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), told British ministers that they, along with arms company executives, could be indicted for aiding and abetting war crimes if they continue to transfer the components.

“We know that Israeli air strikes and bombs using F-35 fighter jets have devastated densely populated areas, including shelters for displaced Palestinians … The insurmountable evidence that Israel is committing violations and international crimes means the UK government can’t feign ignorance,” Shawan Jabarin, Al-Haq’s general director, told media.

Last month, London announced the suspension of 30 out of 350 active arms export licenses to Israel. However, the list did not include UK-made F-35 parts.

“The decision means that while ministers apparently accept that Israel may be committing war crimes in Gaza, [the government] is nevertheless continuing to risk complicity in war crimes, apartheid – and possible genocide – by Israeli forces in Gaza,” Amnesty International’s Chief Executive, Sacha Deshmukh, said on 3 September.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War  

Featured image is from Labour Friends of Israel

The global climate cult is getting ready to kick its war on food into overdrive with 13 nations – many of them major cattle and food-producing states led by the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Spain – signing onto a commitment to place farmers under new restrictions intended to reduce emissions of methane gas.

The Global Methane Hub announced in a May 17 press release that agriculture and environmental ministers and ambassadors from 13 countries, including the United States, have signed a commitment that pledges to reduce methane emissions in agriculture. The U.S. was represented by Biden’s climate czar, John Kerry.

What does this mean and why should you care? We’ll break it down.

According to the press release issued by these nations and posted at Global Methane Hub:

“Last month (in April 2023), the Global Methane Hub collaborated with the Ministries of Agriculture of Chile and Spain to convene the first-ever global ministerial on agricultural practices to reduce methane emissions. The ministerial brought together high-ranking government members to share global perspectives on methane reduction and low-emission food systems. The gathering led to a statement in which the nations committed to support efforts to improve the quality and quantity of, and access to, finance for climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in the agriculture and food sectors and to collaborate on efforts aimed at lowering methane emissions in agriculture and food systems.”

Conference participants included the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Climate & Clean Air Coalition, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

The World Bank, another creation of the post-World War II, U.S.-led liberal rules-based order, has been talking a lot lately, along with the U.N., about a coming famine. The World Bank issued a white paper just last week, on May 22, titled Food Security Update: World Bank Response to Rising Food Insecurity.

The director of the United Nations World Food Program has also been putting out, starting in September of last year, dire warnings about a coming global famine.

So it’s curious to me that, at the very time the globalists are warning about food shortages and famine, their mouthpieces at the World Bank, the U.N., and within the administrations of the U.S. and its allies (notice China and Russia are nowhere to be found in these preposterous anti-food policies), are talking about converting over to a new and unproven form of “sustainable” farming that’s focused more on reducing methane than it is on producing the highest yields of food.

Modern food production is bad, they tell us, because it produces methane which supposedly harms the environment.

“Food systems are responsible for 60% of methane emissions,” said Marcelo Mena, CEO of Global Methane Hub. “We congratulate countries willing to take the lead in food systems methane mitigation and confirm our commitment to support this type of initiative with programs that explore promising methane mitigation technologies and the underpinning research of methane mitigation mechanisms to create new technologies.”

John Kerry is also very excited about taking valuable, productive farmland offline, reducing the size of cattle herds, and turning our food-production systems over to technocrats and globalists offering vague promises of “new technologies.”

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. is busy trying to mitigate methane emissions not just in America but worldwide, stating on its website:

“The United States provides key leadership, funding and technical expertise for international methane emission reduction efforts, resulting in more than 1,140 methane mitigation projects through GMI as of 2021.”

See map of EPA methane mitigation activity below:

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In just one example, the Biden administration plans to spend $1.5 million in taxpayer funds on a program aimed at “empowering” female climate change activists in the “patriarchal” society of northern Kenya, documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show.

John Kerry said in a statement,

“Mitigating methane is the fastest way to reduce warming in the short term. Food and agriculture can contribute to a low-methane future by improving farmer productivity and resilience. We welcome agriculture ministers participating in the implementation of the Global Methane Pledge.”

The May 17 press release further states that,

“The focus of the conference was the deployment of science-based practices, innovation, and technologies in line with sustainable food production…”

The nations signing onto this pledge to transform their farm policies are the United States, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Panama, Peru and Spain.

The government of Spain will organize a second conference in 2024 to monitor and advance implementation efforts related to the statement and encourage more countries to join, according to the May 14 press release.

In order to save the planet from emissions that come from cow farts, they claim it’s necessary to force farmers to change the way they farm, converting their land and livestock to more “innovative” methods and “science-based practices.” These methods will need to be implemented not just on farms but throughout the “food systems.”

They never come out and say what these “innovative” changes are, only that they will be based on “new technologies” and “science-based.”

We can presume from this language that among the practices being considered are replacing a major portion of the beef and dairy cattle, pork and chicken stocks that populations rely on for protein with insect larvae, meal worms, crickets, etc. The U.N., World Economic Forum and other NGOs have been promoting meatless diets and the consumption of insect protein for years, and billionaires have invested in massive insect factories being built in the state of Illinois, in Canada and in the Netherlands, where meal worms, crickets and other bugs will be processed as additives to be inserted into the food supply, often without clear labels that will inform people of exactly what they are eating. Bill Gates is also partnering with other billionaires to invest in the production of lab-grown meat, a process that involves using cancer cells from cows, chickens and pigs to quickly grow artificial meat.

Farmers will be increasingly forced off their land, as is already happening in the Netherlands, which is the world’s second leading net exporter of food after the United States.

All this will add up to a coming famine the likes of which has never been witnessed by the current generation of people on earth. It’s all by design. Globalists like Dennis Meadows, the author of the 1972 Club of Rome-endorsed book The Limits to Growth, informed us of the globalists’ plans to drastically depopulate the earth. His comments in the video below were made I believe in 2017.

“We can have 1 Billion people with freedom, or 9 Billion slaves. We’re at over 7 Billion right now, so we need to bring that down to 1 Billion.
I hope that culling can be peaceful and slow and equal between rich and poor.” -Dennis Meadows (author of Limits to Growth) Club of Rome pic.twitter.com/YEwV2ADF7L

— Global Freedom Movement (@GlobalFreedomM) April 18, 2022

I’ve also reported extensively on the Deagel forecast, which forecasted a nearly 70 percent reduction in the population of America by 2025, with similarly drastic population declines for the U.K., Germany, Canada, Australia and other NATO-aligned countries.

There is no more efficient way to depopulate than through war, famine and plagues. Isn’t it interesting that all three of these time-tested methods of murder are in play right now?

The war on food is very similar to what’s going on in the energy sector, where governments are colluding with big business to transform all transportation from gas-powered to electric-powered, meaning far fewer people will be able to afford electric cars, and even if they can afford them, the use of those cars will be much more tightly monitored and controlled due to the need for charging stations that rely on an already overtaxed power grid. If you can’t charge your car up when you want to, only when you are allowed to, you have now turned over your freedom of movement to the regulators of those charging stations.

In the food industry, Big Agriculture will also collude with the governments of the world to produce much less beef, chicken and pork, replacing that protein with insects and lab-grown fake meat, the health effects of which are largely unknown.

These changes have already been on full display in the Netherlands, where the government has generated intense controversy by launching a plan to reduce livestock herds by up to 50 percent, and reduce the use of nitrogen fertilizers by 30 percent. No matter how much they talk about “innovation” and “new technologies,” you can’t reduce your herds and reduce your use of fertilizer and then claim that your farms will be “more productive.” That’s a lie. All of their “innovations” will translate directly into less food on tables throughout the world.

Prepare now for famine. Stocking your pantry up is a short-term easy fix. We also need to be thinking long-term. If you’ve never grown a garden or raised chickens, that’s something you might want to think about in terms of increasing your skills. Maybe you’ve grown a garden for several years and have some experience, and you can share that with a neighbor who has raised chickens but has little or no gardening experience. Networking and cooperating with the people around us will be the key to survival once this global famine intensifies.

It may be that the actual famine never arrives in the wealthiest countries like America. Food may continue to be on the shelves, but I can guarantee that prices will continue to go up, substantially, on staple items like flour, bread, eggs, meat and dairy.

Pray for the best while preparing for the worst. Because we know that the globalists’ plan is to reduce the world population from 7.5 billion down to 1 or 2 billion. Dennis Meadows let the cat out of the bag and he’s a globalist insider at the Club of Rome whose engagement on this topic goes back to the early 1970s.

Stay strong. Stay peaceful. Never comply. Never submit to any unconstitutional or unbiblical law. Tyrants only have power over those who agree to be governed by them.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Leo Hohmann is an independent author, researcher, writer.

Featured image is from the author

In a recent development, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vows to continue selling weapons to Israel and remains complicit in war crimes and genocide in Gaza. 

Zarah Sultana: “Will he do what is morally and legally right and end the government’s complicity in war crimes by banning all arms sales to Israel, including F-35 fighter jets, not just 30 licenses? Yes or no?”

Keir Starmer: “No.”

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Zarah Sultana: "Will he do what is morally and legally right and end the government's complicity in war crimes by banning all arms sales to Israel, including F-35 fighter jets, not just 30 licenses? Yes or no?"

Keir Starmer: "No." pic.twitter.com/NjK3DFfa8M

— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) October 7, 2024

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Has Iran Just Tested a Nuclear Bomb? Rodney Atkinson

By Rodney Atkinson, October 09, 2024

Iran has announced (the Iranian Tasnim agency) it has plans to conclude a “Resistance Pact” with a number of Middle Eastern countries and movements which will guarantee military and economic assistance in the event of an attack by the United States or Israel on one of the signatory parties.

License to Muzzle: Taking Offence at Flag Wavers for Hezbollah

By Dr. Binoy Kampmark, October 09, 2024

On October 2, a 19-year-old woman was arrested and charged for publicly displaying the symbol of a prohibited organisation at a Sydney demonstration.  The question, however, is whether did so with the requisite intention, absurdly determined by the hypothetical reasonable person, to incite offence, insult, humiliation and intimidation.

After One Year in Gaza, the Solution Remains the Same. The Genocide Is Endorsed by Washington. Biden Is a Zionist

By Steven Sahiounie, October 09, 2024

Israel is focused on how to make their country safe from terror attacks from the North to the South. However, Israel will never be safe as long as they keep about 6 million persons under lock and key, and without human rights.

Britain Cedes Control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius While Maintaining Pentagon Base

By Abayomi Azikiwe, October 09, 2024

There are numerous reports of Diego Garcia being utilized for the purpose of detaining purported enemies of the U.S. for extraordinary renditions since the beginning of the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Having cleared the island of its inhabitants who had worked on plantations for the British, the territory in recent decades has become an indispensable resource for the expansion of U.S. military influence.

Disinformation Isn’t the Problem. Government Coverups and Censorship Are the Problem

By John W. Whitehead and Nisha Whitehead, October 09, 2024

A bipartisan chorus that includes both presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump has long clamored to weaken or do away with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which essentially acts as a bulwark against online censorship.

Mind Control Technologies: The Convention on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Does Not Prevent the Abuse of Fundamental Human Rights, Mojmir Babacek

By Mojmir Babacek, October 09, 2024

On September 5th, the European Commission representative signed the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and human rights, democracy, and the rule of law on behalf of the European Union.

Video: COVID-19: Engineered Destruction of Civil Society: Prof Michel Chossudovsky

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky and Caroline Mailloux, October 09, 2024

Destabilizing the social, political and economic structure of 190 sovereign countries cannot constitute  a “solution” to combating the virus. But that was the imposed “solution” which was implemented in several stages from the very outset of the corona crisis in January 2020.  It’s the destruction of people’s  lives. It is the destabilization of civil society.

Contrary to popular belief, scientific evidence shows that dairy does not increase mucus production or exacerbate respiratory conditions

Dairy products contain milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), which strengthens the gut lining, reduces inflammation, and promotes a healthier microbiome

Raw dairy contains living bacteria that act as natural probiotics, potentially improving digestion and overall gut health. Additionally, lactoferrin, a protein found in dairy, promotes beneficial bacteria growth, maintains gut lining integrity, and helps prevent endotoxins from entering the bloodstream

A2 milk, which lacks the A1 beta-casein protein, is easier to digest for individuals sensitive to conventional dairy

The push towards plant-based dairy alternatives is partly driven by higher profit margins, but these products often lack the nutritional benefits of real dairy

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In recent years, dairy has found itself at the center of a nutritional controversy. Once hailed as a dietary staple, it now faces skepticism and misconceptions in some diet camps. But the tide is turning, and science and consumers are rediscovering the incredible benefits of dairy, especially for your gut health. Let’s dive into the creamy world of dairy and explore why this ancient superfood can improve microbiome and gut function.

It’s worth noting that the recent push towards plant-based dairy alternatives isn’t just about health or “environmental” concerns. Big food companies have discovered that these alternatives are often more profitable than traditional dairy products.

Plant-based milks typically have lower production costs, longer shelf lives, and higher profit margins. This financial incentive has led to increased marketing and availability of these products, potentially influencing consumer perceptions about dairy.

However, as we’ll explore, the nutritional value of these alternatives often falls short of natural dairy, especially when it comes to gut health. Plant-based dairy alternatives do NOT compare nutritionally to the real deal.

Debunking the Mucus Myth

One of the most persistent myths about dairy is that it increases mucus production. You’ve probably heard someone say, “I can’t drink milk; it makes me phlegmy.” But is there any truth to this claim?

A fascinating Australian study surveyed 345 random shoppers about their views on milk’s health qualities. The results were eye-opening:

• 46% of whole milk drinkers believed milk causes mucus
• 25% of reduced-fat milk drinkers held this belief
• 11% of soy milk drinkers agreed with the mucus myth 

Even more surprising, 20% of whole milk drinkers, 8% of reduced-fat milk drinkers, and 5% of soy milk drinkers believed milk caused asthma.¹ These beliefs aren’t limited to Australia. A U.S. study of 330 parents in a pediatric respiratory clinic² found that:

• 59% believed drinking milk increases mucus production
• 22% thought it did not
• 20% were uncertain

With such widespread beliefs, you might think there must be some truth to the mucus myth. However, there is zero scientific evidence that milk and dairy consumption lead to excess mucus secretion. Multiple studies have debunked this misconception, proving that dairy does not increase mucus production or exacerbate respiratory conditions.^3,4

The Plant-Based Pitfall

In recent years, many people have turned to plant-based “milk” alternatives in an attempt to avoid dairy. While these options can be suitable for those with severe dairy allergies, they often come with their own set of problems:

• Added seed oils — Many plant-based milk alternatives contain added oils, which can be proinflammatory and potentially harmful to gut health.
• Emulsifiers — These additives, used to improve texture and shelf life, have been shown to negatively impact gut health by disrupting the gut microbiome and potentially leading to inflammation.⁵

When compared to the natural, gut-friendly composition of dairy, many plant-based alternatives fall short in terms of nutritional value and potential health benefits.

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Dairy: A 7,000-Year-Old Superfood

Humans have been making and consuming dairy products for over 7,000 years. Our ancestors recognized the value of this nutrient-dense food long before modern nutritional science existed.^6,7,8

Cheese, in particular, has played a crucial role in human history. Historians have documented how milk, dairy, and fermented dairy products like cheese served as a storable, calorie-dense food source. This allowed early explorers to travel safely and expand their communities, leading to significant demographic shifts and the development of diverse farming communities.

But why has dairy stood the test of time? The answer lies in its incredible nutritional profile and its positive impact on our gut health.

The Gut-Loving Goodness of Dairy

Let’s delve into the science behind dairy’s gut health benefits:

The A2 Advantage

Dairy sourcing can play a huge role in determining an individual’s tolerance to dairy products. Many people who experience discomfort with conventional dairy find that they can better tolerate milk, cheese, and other dairy products from specific sources.

For instance, A2 milk, which comes from cows that produce only A2 beta-casein protein, is often easier to digest for those sensitive to A1 protein. A2 casein is the original form of beta-casein that cows produced before a genetic mutation occurred thousands of years ago. Some studies suggest that A2 milk may be easier to digest and less likely to cause gastrointestinal discomfort compared to A1 milk.

If you’ve had trouble with dairy in the past, trying A2 milk or dairy products might be worth a shot! Similarly, raw milk or dairy from grass fed cows may be more easily tolerated due to their different enzymatic profiles and nutrient content. Goat and sheep milk products are also frequently better tolerated than cow’s milk due to their unique protein structures and fat compositions.

The processing method, such as fermentation in yogurt or cheese-making, can also enhance digestibility. By exploring various dairy sources, individuals may discover options that allow them to enjoy dairy without the typical adverse reactions.

Conclusion: Embracing Dairy for Gut Health

As we’ve explored, dairy is far more than just a calcium source — it’s a complex, nutrient-dense food that can significantly benefit your gut health. From the MFGM and lactoferrin in all dairy to the living bacteria and enzymes in raw dairy, these products offer a wealth of gut-friendly compounds.

While it’s important to choose high-quality sources and listen to your body’s individual needs, don’t let unfounded myths scare you away from this nutritional powerhouse. Whether you opt for traditional dairy, raw dairy, or A2 products, you’re tapping into a food source that has nourished humans for thousands of years.

So, the next time you pour a glass of milk, spread some butter on your toast, or indulge in a piece of raw cheese, remember — you’re not just enjoying a tasty treat. You’re providing your gut with a feast of beneficial compounds that support your overall health and well-being.

The Best Cheese Source

Looking for the highest quality cheese you can find to boost your dietary calcium? You can now buy the cheese that Dr. Mercola eats every single day with the Mercola Artisanal Cheese Boxes! Check out what Carol had to say about her recent exclusive Mercola Cheese Box order:

“Hello, I just wanted to let you know that I received my first shipment of your cheese. I have had a severe lactose intolerance for over 20 years. I always got serious cramps and twice fainted before figuring out what was causing it. I listened to your interview with Dr. Mercola and thought maybe cheese wasn’t the real problem, but rather the composition of most commercially sold cheese.

I have been cautious in sampling your cheese. I started with just one small bite. I’ve graduated to cheese sticks. I love the taste! I’m so happy to be able to finally enjoy cheese again. Thanks so much!!!”

How awesome! The SOURCE of dairy can really impact its digestibility! The highest quality cheese you can find is restocked every Sunday evening, delivering dietary calcium, fat soluble vitamins and deliciousness directly to your door! What makes this cheese special?

• Raw cheese with all nutrients and enzymes intact
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• Artisan, small-batch cheese

Join the waitlist here to be notified when cheese boxes open up (EVERY SUNDAY EVENING!)

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Ashley Armstrong is the co-founder of Angel Acres Egg Co., which specializes in low-PUFA (polyunsaturated fat) eggs that are shipped to all 50 states (join waitlist here), and Nourish Cooperative, which ships low-PUFA pork, beef, cheese, A2 dairy and traditional sourdough to all 50 states. Waitlists will reopen shortly.

Notes

¹ Appetite. 2003 Apr;40(2):93-100. doi: 10.1016/s0195-6663(03)00004-7

² Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004 Jun;158(6):601-3. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.158.6.601-b

³ Arch Dis Child. 2019;104:91–93. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2018-314896

⁴ Am Rev Respir Dis. 1990 Feb;141(2):352-6. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/141.2.352

⁵ Microbiome volume 9, Article number: 66 (2021)

⁶ Phys.org, September 5, 2018

⁷ National Geographic, September 6, 2018

⁸ PLoS One. 2018; 13(9): e0202807

⁹ Curr Dev Nutr. 2020 Jul 25;4(9):nzaa130. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzaa130

¹⁰ Pharmaceutics. 2023 May 23;15(6):1569. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15061569

¹¹ Cell Mol Life Sci. 2005 Nov;62(22):2549-59. doi: 10.1007/s00018-005-5370-2

^12, 13 Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Apr; 22(7): 3417

¹⁴ RealMilk.com July 31, 2011 

Featured image is licensed under CC0 Public Domain

It was done for the Viet Cong in numerous countries during the US involvement in Vietnam.  It was done for the African National Congress (ANC). It was done for the Irish Revolutionary Army (IRA).  Across the United States, Europe and Australasia, all three organisations, demonised as terrorist outfits, received tacit, symbolic support from protestors.  In some cases, support was genuine and pecuniary. Now, the Lebanese Shia militant and political group Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organisation in a number of Western states, has inspired flag holders to appear at protests against the expanding conflict in Gaza and Lebanon.

In the previous first three instances, all outfits were integrated into the political fold of their countries, revealing the flimsy nature of badging organisations as terrorist entities.  War makers and practitioners of violence can become peacemakers and creatures of paper pushing officialdom.  Such transformations take time and an acid bath of reality.

That backdrop offers context in understanding, and sternly critiquing, the hysteria of critics keen to press charges against those sporting Hezbollah symbols.  At the very least, it should consider the mockery that is free speech in a country such as Australia, awash with authoritarians concerned about the watery concept of social cohesion.  Down under, the skimpy protections for free speech are being whittled away year by year. The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Hate Symbols and Other Measures) Bill 2023, passed in December last year, makes it an offence to publicly display and trade in prohibited symbols, along with the Nazi salute.  Prohibited symbols are defined as prohibited Nazi symbols or “a prohibited terrorist organisation symbol.”

The Criminal Code Act 1995 as amended, offers a number of glutinous elements that must be made out in such a charge.  They are thickly unclear and, it follows, difficult to apply. To be charged with a prohibited symbol offence, a reasonable person (drafters can never resist this feeble term) would have to consider that any public display would involve dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority, hatred or constitute incitement “to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate”.  That same inscrutable reasonable person would also consider the display to involve “advocacy of hatred of a group of persons distinguished by race, religion or nationality or a member of the targeted group” with the incitement element also present. Thirdly, such conduct must be “likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate a reasonable person who is a member of a group distinguished by race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion or national or social origin.”

These elements are nonsensical, attempting to impose unmeasurable standards about feelings that are rarely reasonable and always almost subjective.  Subjectively, people are constantly offended by what they disagree with.  The whole field of political opinion is one lengthy record of taking offence.  It quickly follows that some might also be intimidated, insulted, or humiliated by an opponent’s contrary view, notably when it comes to discrediting a position.  Freedom of speech, axiomatically, requires the exclusion of the offended from consideration.  But the concept is fragile in Australia’s regulation-crazed environment.

Arrests have already been made.  On October 2, a 19-year-old woman was arrested and charged for publicly displaying the symbol of a prohibited organisation at a Sydney demonstration.  The question, however, is whether did so with the requisite intention, absurdly determined by the hypothetical reasonable person, to incite offence, insult, humiliation and intimidation. Ahead of protests scheduled for October 6 and 7, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, not wishing to find himself in a messy quagmire of prosecution and confusion, warned that they should not take place.  “It would not advance any cause.  It would cause a great deal of distress.”  Again, free speech, felled by the concept of hurt feelings.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has created a dedicated task force to investigate nine allegations of prohibited symbols being displayed in Victoria, demonstrating how vagueness in legislation is always good for creating work for idle authorities.  Operation Ardana will consider the display of such symbols “while potentially inciting or advocating violence, or hatred, based on race and religion.”

AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett offers her view about what behaviour would satisfy the test. 

“The context around the conduct is extremely important … If they’re holding the flag, what are they saying?  What are they chanting?  What are they wearing? What sort of physical behaviour are they demonstrating?”

The Home Minister Tony Burke is only too grateful to leave it to Barrett and her colleagues, given his own muddle about how such laws are to apply.  Instead of offering any clarifications, he has warned mischievous Hezbollah flag wavers that they risk losing their visas. 

“We don’t know whether they are actually on visas … [but] we do have a higher standard if you’re on a visa.”

Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, all sledgehammer and no grace, senses room for political exploitation, ostensibly calling for legal improvements to an already shabby law.  “The laws already exist, and if the laws are inadequate then the Australian Federal Commissioner should advise the minister and the parliament should deal with it as a matter of urgency.”

In addition to the Commonwealth law, states laws also exist to layer the prosecution case.  The Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, for instance, is convinced that Victoria police had the relevant powers to deal with those who “may be displaying terrorist flags”.

With the paranoid authoritarians in charge, the very concept of valid protest has been reduced to a hint, a suggestion.  Keep it anodyne and any relevant arguments humbly polite.  Avoid the inherent brutality of a broadening bloody conflict hostile to international law.  Most of all, make social cohesion a license to muzzle.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He currently lectures at RMIT University.  He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).Email: [email protected]

Featured image is licensed under Fair Use

Note: This address was delivered during a public forum organized by the Moratorium NOW! Coalition and the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI) commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Flood. Several organizations sent speakers including Donya Hamdan of the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Heather Burnham representing the Coalition Against Genocide, Terri Kay of New Jersey who is an anti-Zionist Jewish American, Nura Sukkar of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and Ismail Noor of the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN).

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On April 4, 1967, in an address at the Riverside Church in New York City, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the founder and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), told an audience of several thousand people why he had no other choice than to publicly come out against the United States genocidal war and occupation of Vietnam.

This speech was delivered amid the rising tide of urban rebellions across the U.S. where state governments were compelled to suppress the civil unrest with the deployment of National Guard units and later that summer, federal troops in Detroit.

Dr. King said on this significant day that:

“I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today, my own government.”

This sermon was just one of many given by Dr. King in opposition to the Vietnam War during his final year prior to his martyrdom on April 4, 1968.

The SCLC leader outlined what he described as the “triple evils” of the U.S. being racism, poverty and militarism. These prophetic words continue to ring true some 57 years later.

Billions of people around the globe have witnessed the daily massacres in Gaza directly resulting from the carpet bombing of this area which is approximately the size of the city of Detroit. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have occupied Gaza where they have shelled residential neighborhoods, religious institutions, marketplaces, health facilities and schools.

Civilians have borne the brunt of the genocidal onslaught over the last year. The majority of those killed have been women and children. Official statistics supplied by the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza say that more than 41,000 people have been killed and nearly 100,000 injured.

Gaza’s 2.3 million population have been left insecure, displaced and more severely impoverished. Healthcare workers, scholars, merchants, students and many other ordinary people are deliberately targeted in the Gaza genocide. In addition to the year-long assault on the Gaza Strip, in recent months the IDF, police and armed Zionist settlers, have stepped-up their attacks in the West Bank by evicting, injuring, detaining and killing people in this already contained and deprived area of occupied Palestine.

These actions would not be possible without the funding, coordination and diplomatic cover provided through the taxpayer dollars of the U.S. Despite the fact that the majority people when asked say they are in favor of a ceasefire and the curtailment of military assistance to the settler-colonial state, the administration of President Joe Biden and Congress have continued to transfer the most advanced and deadly weapons to the IDF for the sole purpose of destroying Palestinian communities along with the neighboring states of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In an article published by the Associated Press on October 7, it emphasizes that:

“The United States has spent a record of at least $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the war in Gaza began and led to escalating conflict around the Middle East, according to a report for Brown University’s Costs of War project, released Monday on the anniversary of Hamas’ attacks on Israel. An additional $4.86 billion has gone into stepped-up U.S. military operations in the region since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, researchers said in findings first provided to The Associated Press. That includes the costs of a Navy-led campaign to quell strikes on commercial shipping by Yemen’s Houthis, who are carrying them out in solidarity with the fellow Iranian-backed group Hamas.” 

The deliberate widening of the war will require additional spending for the deployment of IDF and U.S. troops. In August there was an escalation of Pentagon forces in West Asia bringing the total to 50,000.

An increase in the number of U.S. soldiers will make Pentagon personnel even more vulnerable by risking serious injuries and deaths. There has already been the shelling of U.S. military bases in Iraq, Jordan and Syria.

These expenditures have a direct impact on the domestic situation in the U.S. There are serious economic problems involving the lack of affordable housing, an escalation in energy and food prices and the rapid deterioration of infrastructure. The cost of higher education has grown exponentially while the availability of good paying jobs is declining.

International Solidarity Continues to Grow

During the winter and spring over 100 campuses across the U.S. were the scene of mass demonstrations and encampments demanding the full disclosure and disinvestment of all holdings which underwrite the maintenance of the Israeli regime. These solidarity actions surpassed all other protests throughout the years related to the necessity of ending aid to the settler-colonial state and creating an independent existence for the Palestinian people.

As far as public opinions are concerned in the U.S. and around the world, most people are opposed to the policies of Tel Aviv and Washington. Mass demonstrations are ongoing despite the coordinated crackdown against the Palestine solidarity movement which is obviously the result of the White House and the Justice Department.

The Biden administration continues to express its unconditional support for the Zionist entity while the massacres continue. When the primary elections took place in the winter and spring, the movement for an uncommitted protest vote provided a clear signal of the potential political failure of the Biden White House.

As Biden’s rating continued to decline precipitously, the efforts among large-scale donors and officials within the Democratic Party to remove the president from the ticket accelerated. Biden was eventually toppled as the 2024 candidate and replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris.

However, Harris is still plagued by the legacy of the pro-Zionist foreign policy. Although there was much enthusiasm for the candidacy of Kamala Harris in the initial weeks leading up to the Democratic National Convention (DNC), as the election final date gets closer to November 5 it appears as if the outcome is too close to call. With ongoing IDF bombing and occupation of Gaza continuing alongside the attacks on neighboring Lebanon, it remains unclear who will be victorious in the race for the White House.

Irrespective of whether the Democrats or Republicans win the national presidential and congressional elections, the propping up of the State of Israel will continue until the masses are able to change the political trajectory of the U.S. By placing the imperialist outpost in Tel Aviv at the center of Washington’s policy towards West Asia, the danger of a protracted regional and world war will remain a threat to the whole of humanity.

At the recently held United Nations General Assembly 79th Session, heads-of-state and foreign ministers from around the world condemned the genocide in Gaza. Prior to the convening of the gathering in New York City, the overwhelming majority of UN missions voted to recognize a State of Palestine while demanding the ending of the occupation within one year.

As has been demonstrated throughout the history of the 20th century, imperialism and racism can be defeated by united action on the part of the oppressed and their allies. This will also be true of Palestine and the entire region of West Asia.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.  

Featured image source

Israel appears to have begun its long-planned ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza, with the IDF dropping bombs, issuing evacuation orders for multiple hospitals, attacking civilians with sniper drones, and besieging civilian populations in order to force tens of thousands of people to either move south or die. Israel has reportedly been dropping leaflets on the Jabalia refugee camp ordering people to leave, and then shooting anyone who tries to.

Since the 7th of October last year, Israel has committed roughly 100 October sevenths in Gaza; scores of American medical workers who volunteered in the enclave signed an open letter to president Biden estimating the real death toll from Israel’s onslaught at over 118,000. Israel has also committed about two October sevenths in Lebanon during that time, with the majority of the 2,100 Israeli killings in that country coming just in the last few weeks.

As Israeli murderousness ramps up in both Gaza and Lebanon, Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a statement addressed to the Lebanese people telling them that they need to somehow defeat Hezbollah in order to “save Lebanon before it plunges into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza.”

So we went from “limited operation” to Israel threatening what they did to Gaza—an ongoing genocide—in Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/6k7cH6np2b

— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) October 8, 2024

Israeli officials have been saying they’re going to destroy Lebanon like they destroyed Gaza for months. Back in December Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant said, “Every person in Lebanon can take the map, the aerial photograph of Gaza, place it on an aerial photograph of Beirut, and ask themselves if this is what they want to happen there.” Now Netanyahu himself is saying this.

Notably, Netanyahu’s statement was delivered in English, with English subtitles. This wasn’t actually a plea made to the people of Lebanon, it was propaganda made for western consumption. Netanyahu does not actually believe the Lebanese people are going to take up arms against Hezbollah to stop their country from being destroyed, he’s just creating a narrative to justify what he already plans on doing to Lebanon.

And the US is encouraging Israel to move forward. On Tuesday State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller told the press that the Biden administration no longer supports a ceasefire with Hezbollah, saying “We support Israel’s efforts to degrade Hezbollah’s capability” instead. Two weeks ago CNN reported that the administration has also essentially given up on a ceasefire in Gaza.

.@NBCNews claims US officials have discussed joining Israel in offensive strikes against Iran, and passing them off as “defensive" after the fact.

This should raise alarm bells – Congress has not declared war on Iran, which would be disastrous for the U.S. and the region. pic.twitter.com/tA6r9vGFvS

— NIAC (@NIACouncil) October 8, 2024

And we haven’t even talked about Iran yet. NBC News reports that US military officials have been discussing directly joining in Israel’s planned attack on Iran, potentially launching their own airstrikes on the Iranian military whenever Israel begins its attack. 

Whether the US joins with Israel in its coming attack or not, Iran has already made it clear that it will retaliate against any further aggressions by Israel, and Israel has made it clear that if Iran strikes back it’s going to ramp up its aggressions and perhaps start attacking Iranian energy infrastructure. If this blows up into full-scale war, as looks increasingly likely, it’s inevitable that the US will come to Israel’s defense.

Axios and its Israeli intelligence insider Barak Ravid have a new report out on how super duper frustrated the Biden administration is becoming with Israeli warmongering. In typical Axios fashion the outlet reports that the White House is becoming “increasingly distrustful” of Israel’s planned military operations against Iran and Lebanon, but that, in typical Biden administration fashion, its American sources admit that the US “would very likely help Israel defend itself regardless” of whatever happens.

Vice President Harris Says Iran Is the US’s ‘Greatest Adversary’
The vice president also said the US 'must win the competition for the 21st century with China'
by Dave DeCamp@DecampDave #KamalaHarris #Iran #Israel #China #hawkshttps://t.co/9SNkFzxR9Z pic.twitter.com/eEb8m1fsQv

— Antiwar.com (@Antiwarcom) October 8, 2024

Whoever wins the US election in November appears to be committed to riding with Israel down this path into the depths of hell. 

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Vice President Kamala Harris defended the Biden administration’s genocidal support for Israel, saying the weapons it has been giving them “allow Israel to defend itself.” She also named Iran as the number one enemy of the United States.

In an appearance on The View, Harris was asked what she would have done differently from President Biden, and she said “There is not a thing that comes to mind.” Then later she added, “You asked me what is the difference between Joe Biden and me, that will be one of the differences: I’m going to have a Republican in my Cabinet.”

And lest you make the mistake of thinking Trump would be any better, last week the former president said that Israel should attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, and criticized the Biden administration for not being sufficiently aggressive on this front.

Trump says Israel should "hit" Iran's nuclear facilities. Yet another bold "anti-war" statement on his part — a terrifying blow to the Deep State and military-industrial complex pic.twitter.com/BXwfCiR46Y

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 5, 2024

“They asked [Biden], what do you think about Iran, would you hit Iran?” Trump said at a campaign event on Friday. “And he goes, ‘As long as they don’t hit the nuclear stuff.’ That’s the thing you want to hit, right? I said I think he’s got that one wrong.”

Anyone who still says Trump is a peacemaker is a damn fool. Statements like this are in full alignment with the absolute worst warmongers in Washington like John Bolton or Lindsey Graham.

Anyway, that’s where we’re at right now. That’s the trajectory the US empire has us on. An active genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, the threat of another extermination campaign in Lebanon, and acceleration toward a direct war of unimaginable horror with Iran.

These psychos must be stopped.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image: Slaughterhouse – by Mr. Fish

Two disturbing news items out of Iran suggest that Iran may already have a nuclear bomb capacity. 

Firstly, an Armenian station recorded a seismic event measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale in Iran on Saturday 5th October and according to Armenian researchers, its characteristics suggest it was more like an explosion than an earthquake.

Secondly, a source in the Islamic republic said in a private conversation with an official close to Khamenei that 

“Allah has already given us everything, everything is far away from the eyes of the Zionists, and we are ready to release this genie in response to any hint of a real threat to the existence of our state”

Iran has announced (the Iranian Tasnim agency) it has plans to conclude a “Resistance Pact” with a number of Middle Eastern countries and movements which will guarantee military and economic assistance in the event of an attack by the United States or Israel on one of the signatory parties. The “movements” will undoubtedly include Hamas, the Houthis and Hezbollah all dangerous Iranian proxies committed to attacking Israel.

This scenario does not of course come under the above threat of using a nuclear bomb under a “real threat to the existence of our state” but is nevertheless ominous as in April of this year, Iranian authorities suggested that they might revise their nuclear doctrine in the event of aggression from Israel.

(First the USA and then Russia have made similar “revisions” to their nuclear strike doctrines in recent years)

Combined with news of possible Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities (supported by Donald Trump) the war rhetoric has now been made all the more dangerous by these seismic indications of a possible bomb test in Iran.

Iran’s main nuclear facilities are south of Tehran and it was in the desert to the south of Tehran in the area of Kavir that the Armenian sources (published on Tigranes Telegram channel) detected the seismic event on 5th October 2024 .

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Earthquakes normally have an aftershock or seismic “tail” which a nuclear test does not exhibit. These graphs show the difference with examples of past tests and earthquakes in Pakistan, India, Russia and North Korea:

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Iran has been expanding its uranium enrichment programme since 2018, reducing the so-called “breakout time” it would need to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb to a matter of weeks from at least a year under the (President Trump abandoned) 2015 accord.

“Actually making a bomb with that material would take longer. How long is less clear and the subject of debate.

Iran is now enriching uranium to up to 60% fissile purity, close to the 90% of weapons grade, at two sites, and in theory it has enough material enriched to that level, if enriched further, for almost four bombs, according to a yardstick of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. watchdog” (Reuters)

It is interesting that there is a lack of western press coverage of this possible nuclear test by Iran, nor any attempt to refute the reports.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on Freenations.

“Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War” 

by Michel Chossudovsky

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ISBN Number: 978-0-9737147-5-3
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Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), which hosts the critically acclaimed website www.globalresearch.ca . He is a contributor to the Encyclopedia Britannica. His writings have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Reviews

“This book is a ‘must’ resource – a richly documented and systematic diagnosis of the supremely pathological geo-strategic planning of US wars since ‘9-11’ against non-nuclear countries to seize their oil fields and resources under cover of ‘freedom and democracy’.”
–John McMurtry, Professor of Philosophy, Guelph University

“In a world where engineered, pre-emptive, or more fashionably “humanitarian” wars of aggression have become the norm, this challenging book may be our final wake-up call.”
-Denis Halliday, Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations

Michel Chossudovsky exposes the insanity of our privatized war machine. Iran is being targeted with nuclear weapons as part of a war agenda built on distortions and lies for the purpose of private profit. The real aims are oil, financial hegemony and global control. The price could be nuclear holocaust. When weapons become the hottest export of the world’s only superpower, and diplomats work as salesmen for the defense industry, the whole world is recklessly endangered. If we must have a military, it belongs entirely in the public sector. No one should profit from mass death and destruction.
–Ellen Brown, author of ‘Web of Debt’ and president of the Public Banking Institute   

October 7, 2024, marks the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel. On that day, Palestinian resistance fighters broke down some walls surrounding Gaza and 1,200 Israelis were killed, nearly 250 hostages were taken, with 112 having later come out alive, and the remaining 97 are captives.

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The Secretary-General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, said on October 24, 2023,

the attack “did not happen in a vacuum.” “The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation,” said Guterres.

Guterres was not justifying the killing of innocent civilians in their homes. He was explaining the facts on the ground. Only Israel complained of Guterres’ comments because the rest of the world is aware that Gaza and the West Bank are under brutal occupation, and there is no peace plan to allow their freedom and independence.

Israel is focused on how to make their country safe from terror attacks from the North to the South. However, Israel will never be safe as long as they keep about 6 million persons under lock and key, and without human rights. The core values of Americans are freedom and independence, which they fought for and died for in 1776. The American resistance used brutal and bloody violence to fight for their freedom, and they won.

The UN has deemed Israel as being an apartheid system. The US supported the fight to end apartheid in South Africa. Nelson Mandela was arrested for using violence against the government. He was offered release if he would denounce violence, but he refused. After two decades in prison, he was released and eventually became President of South Africa, and won the Nobel Peace Prize, while remaining on the US list of banned terrorists. The solution in South Africa, championed by the US and Europe, was the collapse of an unjust government, and the development of a free and democratic government.

The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the two-state solution, which was ratified at the UN decades ago and is still referred to as the only solution offered by the US.

October 7 did not have to happen. The rules-based international order that the US and its allies always refer to does not exist in Israel. When Hamas announced they had taken captives, they were sure those captives would be swapped for the Palestinian men, women, and children held in Israeli prisons without charges, trial, or legal representation.

But, a full prisoner exchange never materialized. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been blamed by his citizens for not making a deal to get the captives released, now after one year underground in Gaza. Some were killed or died of illness, and the remaining 97 hostages are running out of time.

Even on the day of the first anniversary of the attack, the hostage families were still protesting in the streets asking for Netanyahu to change course and make a deal for their release. Netanyahu has a plan for Gaza, and that is why he has refused all attempts by US President Joe Biden for a ceasefire. Netanyahu plans to destroy Hamas, remain occupying Gaza, and annex Gaza. The plan ends with the people of Gaza either dead or living in Egypt.

The second part of the Netanyahu plan is to empty the Palestinians from the Occupied West Bank into Jordan and annex the West Bank. Netanyahu’s plan, which is being successfully executed so far, will end the two-state solution once and for all, because all of the original Palestine will be officially Israel.The Israeli public generally does not want a two-state solution. Many are Zionists who believe God gave them the land about 9,000 years ago, and they are the owners of the former Palestine. American Evangelicals are a large cult within the Christian population in the US.

They support the Jewish claim to the former Palestine and follow the ideology of Zionism, which is not based on religion but is a political ideology. Israelis and American Zionists have no qualms with Israel killing over 41,000 people in Gaza, and over 96,700 people injured as of Oct. 3, 2024. The fact that Palestinian Christians are killed, maimed, injured and their ancient churches destroyed by Israel does not bother the American Evangelicals.

They are so sure of their God’s plan, that genocide is justified. They defend their lack of morals as a Biblical promise by a God who does not want justice and equality in Palestine. Biden has stated publically that he is a Zionist. According to the UN, at least 10,000 people are assumed to be buried under the rubble of Gaza. The hospitals have been destroyed, medical workers killed and food and medical supplies have been prevented from delivery by Israel, according to the UN, which has reported on the famine in Gaza that is preventable.

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said on Oct. 2 that more than 100,000 metric tons of food is being prevented from delivery because of Israeli restrictions. Netanyahu has now begun a campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon and has successfully eliminated many of the top leadership of the resistance group.

Israeli military claims that the have destroyed 50% of Hezbollah’s weapons but in reality the haven’t according to several military specialist. and the Israeli air force have destroyed the neighborhood in south Beirut , as well as many areas they lived in the south. None of Israel’s military achievements will bring them closer to peace, economic recovery, or security. The ‘cancer’ of the Middle East is the Israeli occupation of Palestine. When facing cancer, some surgeries and treatments can produce healing and good health. Hiding from the diagnosis, and refusing to seek a solution only prolongs the illness, and can eventually lead to death.

Netanyahu is on a path to use band-aides, paid for by the US taxpayer, to treat a potentially incurable disease, because he refuses to recognize the diagnosis and begin the first step towards recovery. The genocide in Gaza was made possible by Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris. They kept the flow of $17.9 billion in cash and weapons to Israel, even breaking US State Department regulations preventing the transfer of weapons to conflict where human rights are abused.

Netanyahu is perfectly positioned to execute his plans in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon. The Oval Office is flying on autopilot as Biden is in the last days of his term. Biden has given Netanyahu a brightly lit ‘green light’ to do anything he likes, regardless of what international rules and norms he bulldozes over.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on Mideast Discourse.

Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image source

People living in the Chagos Islands archipelago were forcefully removed from their homeland during the late 1960s and early 1970s to make way for a United States military base on one of the territories known as Diego Garcia.

During the first week of October, the British government announced that it was ceding control of the islands, with the exception of Diego Garcia, to the government of Mauritius, a member of the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

This decision by the UK government came after a decades-long campaign on the part of the people of the Chagos Islands to return to their homeland. The advocates for Chagossians emphasized in their comments in the aftermath of the decision to place them under the Mauritian government that they had not been consulted.

Over the years Chagossians have held demonstrations along with initiating legal actions to win the right of return. Although the UK courts have recognized that their removal was illegal, there has never been a mandate for them to return as an independent people.

Maxell Evenor, who is of Chagossian ancestry, was briefly interviewed by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on October 4 where he criticized the announcement of the agreement between London and the Mauritian government. Mauritius was granted independence in 1968 from the UK and has advanced its claim to the Chagos islands in recent years.

Evenor recounted how his grandmother exiled to Britain was negatively impacted by the illegal separation from her homeland. Within Britain, the Chagossians like other peoples of African and Asian descent are suffering from national discrimination and institutional racism.

Nonetheless, if what the British government says is true regarding the turning over control of the islands to Mauritius with the understanding that the largest territory which houses at joint U.S.-UK military base will remain in the control of these two imperialist states, illustrates clearly that the decision taken was not in the interests of the people of the Chagos Islands. This decision as well is not in the interest of Mauritius either since it preserves the presence of U.S. and British troops in these Indian Ocean areas where they will be utilized to continue hostile military actions against various geo-political regions within Africa and Asia.

A Colonial Pattern Continues

The plight of the people of this islands-nation is indicative of the process of forced removals and the appropriation of land. This is not a practice which is alien to the history of the U.S. and all European imperialist states.

Looking at the historical development of Britain and other imperialist states, the control over oppressed peoples and their resources provides enormous wealth for the colonizers. With specific reference to the African continent, millions were kidnapped and taken to the Western Hemisphere between the 16th and 19th centuries where they were enslaved and colonized.

In Asia many territories were taken over by the British and various Western European governments where the majority of the indigenous people were subjected to forced labor, land seizures and taxation. The ruling class of these European nations amassed tremendous amounts of wealth which fueled the growth of many of the industries which continue to dominate the world system today such as shipping, mass production and international finance.

Adding to the motivation for such a foreign policy is the expansion of the military-industrial-complex which attempts to ensure that the exploitative and oppressive system perpetuates itself. Therefore, imperialism must conceal the true nature of its crimes while also justifying its existence by claiming they are the purveyor of democracy and progress on a global scale.

The United Nations News Agency wrote on the situation involving the Chagos Islands saying:

“In splitting the islands from Mauritius, the UK expelled between 1,500 and 2,000 islanders so that it could lease Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos islands, to the United States for military use which the two allies have since operated jointly. According to news reports, the UK falsely declared that Chagos had no permanent population so that it would not have to report its colonial rule to the UN. In reality, the Chagossian community had lived on Chagos for centuries. The UK and US governments forcibly displaced the Chagossian population between 1967 and 1973 not only reportedly on Diego Garcia, but also Peros Banhos and Salomon.” 

This time frame for the forced removals of the Chagossians coincided with the U.S. war in Southeast Asia and the efforts to defeat the armed struggles of the African people living then under Portuguese colonial rule and the settler colonial regimes of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), South-West Africa (Namibia) and South Africa. Despite the theft of these islands and the bombings and occupations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, the forces for national liberation were ultimately victorious.

Britain and the U.S. have refused to take responsibility for these actions which continue to have grave implications five decades later. The Chagossians are entitled to not only return to their homeland they are owed reparations for the pain and suffering associated with displacement and the nature of colonial rule.

Many have vowed to press on with their demands for repatriation, self-determination and reparations. Several years ago, many of the Chagossians were granted citizenship by the UK although their principal goal is winning the right of return.

Another section of the article cited above noted that military considerations were paramount in the decision to maintain control over Diego Garcia:

“The UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said the UK government had secured the future of the military base ‘as well as guaranteeing our long-term relationship with Mauritius, a close Commonwealth partner’. However, many Chagossians are still frustrated by the UK government’s lack of consultation with them before Thursday’s announcement, according to news reports. Chagossian Voices, a community organization for Chagossians based in the UK and several other countries where islanders have settled, deplored ‘the exclusion of the Chagossian community from the negotiations’, leaving them ‘powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland. The view of Chagossians, the Indigenous inhabitants of the islands, have been consistently and deliberately ignored and we demand full inclusion in the drafting of the treaty,’ they added.”

Even though the leading imperialist states such as the U.S., Britain and France foster the notion that the era of colonial rule has ended, the situation prevailing among the Chagossians has proved otherwise. Having been dispersed to other areas in the Indian Ocean including Mauritius and the Seychelles along with Britain, the Chagossians remain a people without a home.

Military Outpost for Western Imperialism

There are numerous reports of Diego Garcia being utilized for the purpose of detaining purported enemies of the U.S. for extraordinary renditions since the beginning of the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Having cleared the island of its inhabitants who had worked on plantations for the British, the territory in recent decades has become an indispensable resource for the expansion of U.S. military influence.

Mauritius’ relations with the People’s Republic of China have become notable since the establishment of formal diplomatic relations in 1972. In recent years Mauritius and China have signed documents establishing a Free Trade Agreement. See this.

Yet the exclusion of Diego Garcia from the other Chagos Islands is a clear indication of its important role within U.S. military strategy in the Indian Ocean. Visits to the island are not allowed as the level of secrecy and monitoring are designed to even keep out journalists.

One BBC journalist, Alice Cuddy, wrote an extensive report during September after being allowed on the island to cover a trial for Sri Lankan Tamils seeking asylum. Cuddy observed the atmosphere on the island which is occupied only by Pentagon personnel and British administrators. Any effort to gain admission to Diego Garcia requires the approval of U.S. military authorities.

According to Cuddy:

“To enter the island you need a permit, only granted to people with connections to the military facility or the British authority that runs the territory. Journalists have historically been barred.

UK government lawyers brought a legal challenge to try to block the BBC from attending the hearing, and even when permission was granted following a ruling by the territory’s Supreme Court, the U.S. later objected, saying it would not provide food, transport or accommodation to all those attempting to reach the island for the case – including the judge and barristers.” 

These developments on the Chagos Islands in recent months could very well be reflective of the U.S. preparations for a renewed war effort in the Asian and African continents. The Israeli genocide perpetuated against the Palestinians in Gaza and the widening of this same military campaign into Lebanon opens the way for the deployment greater numbers of Pentagon troops in West Asia and other geo-political regions.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.  

Featured image: B-2 bomber take off, B-52 bombers on tarmac on Diego Garcia in 2003 (From the Public Domain)

“What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed; how can you have an opinion if you are not informed? If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer… And a people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people you can then do what you please.”—Hannah Arendt

In a perfect example of the Nanny State mindset at work, Hillary Clinton insists that the powers-that-be need “total control” in order to make the internet a safer place for users and protect us harm.

Clinton is not alone in her distaste for unregulated, free speech online.

A bipartisan chorus that includes both presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump has long clamored to weaken or do away with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which essentially acts as a bulwark against online censorship.

It’s a complicated legal issue that involves debates over immunity, liability, net neutrality and whether or not internet sites are publishers with editorial responsibility for the content posted to their sites, but really, it comes down to the tug-of-war over where censorship (corporate and government) begins and free speech ends.

As Elizabeth Nolan Brown writes for Reason,

“What both the right and left attacks on the provision share is a willingness to use whatever excuses resonate—saving children, stopping bias, preventing terrorism, misogyny, and religious intolerance—to ensure more centralized control of online speech. They may couch these in partisan terms that play well with their respective bases, but their aim is essentially the same.”

In other words, the government will use any excuse to suppress dissent and control the narrative.

The internet may well be the final frontier where free speech still flourishes, especially for politically incorrect speech and disinformation, which test the limits of our so-called egalitarian commitment to the First Amendment’s broad-minded principles.

On the internet, falsehoods and lies abound, misdirection and misinformation dominate, and conspiracy theories go viral.

This is to be expected, and the response should be more speech, not less.

As Justice Brandeis wrote nearly a century ago:

“If there be time to expose through discussion, the falsehoods and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.”

Yet to the government, these forms of “disinformation” rank right up there with terrorism, drugs, violence, and disease: societal evils so threatening that “we the people” should be willing to relinquish a little of our freedoms for the sake of national security.

Of course, it never works out that way.

The war on terror, the war on drugs, the war on illegal immigration, the war on COVID-19: all of these programs started out as legitimate responses to pressing concerns only to become weapons of compliance and control in the government’s hands.

Indeed, in the face of the government’s own authoritarian power-grabs, coverups, and conspiracies, a relatively unfettered internet may be our sole hope of speaking truth to power.

The right to criticize the government and speak out against government wrongdoing is the quintessential freedom.

You see, disinformation isn’t the problem. Government coverups and censorship are the problem.

Unfortunately, the government has become increasingly intolerant of speech that challenges its power, reveals its corruption, exposes its lies, and encourages the citizenry to push back against the government’s many injustices. Every day in this country, those who dare to speak their truth to the powers-that-be find themselves censored, silenced or fired.

While there are all kinds of labels being put on so-called “unacceptable” speech today, the real message being conveyed by those in power is that Americans don’t have a right to express themselves if what they are saying is unpopular, controversial or at odds with what the government determines to be acceptable.

Where the problem arises is when you put the power to determine who is a potential danger in the hands of government agencies, the courts and the police.

Remember, this is the same government that uses the words “anti-government,” “extremist” and “terrorist” interchangeably.

This is the same government whose agents are spinning a sticky spider-web of threat assessments, behavioral sensing warnings, flagged “words,” and “suspicious” activity reports using automated eyes and ears, social media, behavior sensing software, and citizen spies to identify potential threats.

This is the same government that keeps re-upping the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which allows the military to detain American citizens with no access to friends, family or the courts if the government believes them to be a threat.

This is the same government that has a growing list—shared with fusion centers and law enforcement agencies—of ideologies, behaviors, affiliations and other characteristics that could flag someone as suspicious and result in their being labeled potential enemies of the state.

For instance, if you believe in and exercise your rights under the Constitution (namely, your right to speak freely, worship freely, associate with like-minded individuals who share your political views, criticize the government, own a weapon, demand a warrant before being questioned or searched, or any other activity viewed as potentially anti-government, racist, bigoted, anarchic or sovereign), you could be at the top of the government’s terrorism watch list.

Thus, no matter how well-meaning the politicians make these encroachments on our rights appear, in the right (or wrong) hands, benevolent plans can easily be put to malevolent purposes.

Even the most well-intentioned government law or program can be—and has been—perverted, corrupted and used to advance illegitimate purposes once profit and power are added to the equation. For instance, the very same mass surveillance technologies that were supposedly so necessary to fight the spread of COVID-19 are now being used to stifle dissent, persecute activists, harass marginalized communities, and link people’s health information to other surveillance and law enforcement tools.

We are moving fast down that slippery slope to an authoritarian society in which the only opinions, ideas and speech expressed are the ones permitted by the government and its corporate cohorts.

The next phase of the government’s war on anti-government speech and so-called thought crimes could well be mental health round-ups and involuntary detentions.

Under the guise of public health and safety, the government could use mental health care as a pretext for targeting and locking up dissidents, activists and anyone unfortunate enough to be placed on a government watch list.

This is how it begins.

In communities across the nation, police are already being empowered to forcibly detain individuals they believe might be mentally ill, based solely on their own judgment, even if those individuals pose no danger to others.

In New York City, for example, you could find yourself forcibly hospitalized for suspected mental illness if you carry “firmly held beliefs not congruent with cultural ideas,” exhibit a “willingness to engage in meaningful discussion,” have “excessive fears of specific stimuli,” or refuse “voluntary treatment recommendations.”

While these programs are ostensibly aimed at getting the homeless off the streets, when combined with advances in mass surveillance technologies, artificial intelligence-powered programs that can track people by their biometrics and behavior, mental health sensor data (tracked by wearable data and monitored by government agencies such as HARPA), threat assessments, behavioral sensing warnings, precrime initiatives, red flag gun laws, and mental health first-aid programs aimed at training gatekeepers to identify who might pose a threat to public safety, they could well signal a tipping point in the government’s efforts to penalize those engaging in so-called “thought crimes.”

As the Associated Press reports, federal officials are already looking into how to add “‘identifiable patient data,’ such as mental health, substance use and behavioral health information from group homes, shelters, jails, detox facilities and schools,” to its surveillance toolkit.

Make no mistake: these are the building blocks for an American gulag no less sinister than that of the gulags of the Cold War-era Soviet Union.

The word “gulag” refers to a labor or concentration camp where prisoners (oftentimes political prisoners or so-called “enemies of the state,” real or imagined) were imprisoned as punishment for their crimes against the state.

The gulag, according to historian Anne Applebaum, used as a form of “administrative exile—which required no trial and no sentencing procedure—was an ideal punishment not only for troublemakers as such, but also for political opponents of the regime.”

This age-old practice by which despotic regimes eliminate their critics or potential adversaries by making them disappear—or forcing them to flee—or exiling them literally or figuratively or virtually from their fellow citizens—is happening with increasing frequency in America.

Now, through the use of red flag laws, behavioral threat assessments, and pre-crime policing prevention programs, the groundwork is being laid that would allow the government to weaponize the label of mental illness as a means of exiling those whistleblowers, dissidents and freedom fighters who refuse to march in lockstep with its dictates.

Each state has its own set of civil, or involuntary, commitment laws. These laws are extensions of two legal principles: parens patriae Parens patriae (Latin for “parent of the country”), which allows the government to intervene on behalf of citizens who cannot act in their own best interest, and police power, which requires a state to protect the interests of its citizens.

The fusion of these two principles, coupled with a shift towards a dangerousness standard, has resulted in a Nanny State mindset carried out with the militant force of the Police State.

The problem, of course, is that the diagnosis of mental illness, while a legitimate concern for some Americans, has over time become a convenient means by which the government and its corporate partners can penalize certain “unacceptable” social behaviors.

In fact, in recent years, we have witnessed the pathologizing of individuals who resist authority as suffering from oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), defined as “a pattern of disobedient, hostile, and defiant behavior toward authority figures.”

Under such a definition, every activist of note throughout our history—from Mahatma Gandhi to Martin Luther King Jr. to John Lennon—could be classified as suffering from an ODD mental disorder.

Of course, this is all part of a larger trend in American governance whereby dissent is criminalized and pathologized, and dissenters are censored, silenced, declared unfit for society, labelled dangerous or extremist, or turned into outcasts and exiled.

As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, this is how you subdue a populace.

The ensuing silence in the face of government-sponsored tyranny, terror, brutality and injustice is deafening.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on The Rutherford Institute.

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at [email protected].

Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

They are regular contributors to Global Research.

First published on March 20, 2022. My first interview more than two years ago with Lux Media

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Video Caroline Mailloux interviews Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Destabilizing the social, political and economic structure of 190 sovereign countries cannot constitute  a “solution” to combating the virus. But that was the imposed “solution” which was implemented in several stages from the very outset of the corona crisis in January 2020.  It’s the destruction of people’s  lives. It is the destabilization of civil society.

Fake science was supportive of this devastating agenda. The lies were sustained by a massive media disinformation campaign. 24/7, Incessant and Repetitive “Covid alerts” in the course of the last two years.

The  historic March 11, 2020 lockdown triggered economic and social chaos Worldwide. It was an act of “economic warfare”: a war against humanity. 

This diabolical agenda has undermined the sovereignty of nation states. It has contributed  to a wave of bankruptcies. It has impoverished people Worldwide.

It has led to a spiralling dollar denominated global debt. 

In turn it has led to the Covid Vaccine which was launched in December 2020, which has been conducive to an upper trend in vaccine related mortality.

The powerful structures of global capitalism, Big Money coupled with its intelligence and military apparatus are the driving force. 

Using advanced digital and communications technologies, the lockdown and “closure” of the global economy is unprecedented in World history.

Video Interview: Caroline Mailloux and Michel Chossudovsky

Click  here or screen to view video

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[First published in 2022, with updates on 14 July 2024.]

Trump’s near assassination this weekend represents an incredibly important reminder of the stakes going into the 2024 election amidst a vast systemic collapse and heightened threat of a thermonuclear war. At this stage, despite the cast of compromised characters among Trump’s support network, no one has displayed so consistent a quality of leadership that qualifies them for dealing with the current crisis as Trump has displayed.

I thought it fitting to revisit the recent Canadian Patriot Review film (based upon the essay “Why Assume There Will be a 2024 Election?“) where we are introduced into this dense period of history from the orchestrated demolition of the financial system in 1929, the Wall Street/London fueled “economic miracle solution” of fascism and eugenics between 1930-1934, and the story of FDR’s war with the financier oligarchy’s London and Wall Street tentacles. From this vantage point, we are then thrust into a deep dive into the person of Smedley Butler and his courageous defense of the republic.

Why Assume There Will be a 2024 Election? America’s 1934 “Bankers’ Coup Plot” Revisited

By Matthew Ehret-Kump, July 19, 2022

Earlier this week, former President Donald Trump announced his intention to run in the 2024 elections which is a no-brainer considering his support among potential republican contenders is 49% (compared to a 25% support for DeSantis) and no other candidate earning above 7%.

It didn’t take two days before Defense Authorization Act of 2022 (HR-4350) was passed by the House of Representatives giving the President full controls over the military in all domestic operations and which takes direct aim at all “domestic extremists” in the USA.

Obviously, the senile and politically compromised Biden’s days in power are shaky to say the least and echoes of the 1933 Reichstag fire that provided a newly elected Hitler regime the excuse it needed to impose tyrannical ‘enabling acts’ rings in the memory.

With the perfect storm of crises now converging onto our beleagured world (economic meltdown, energy crisis, food crisis, and general dangers of both civil and global wars), it is worth considering the very real possibility that the days of elections may soon be over. Despite the many talking heads yapping about the 2024 elections as if it were a football game, reality and real history paints a very different picture of bankers’-directed military coups both in the USA and abroad.

In order to best understand this danger and also gain insight into how it might be circumvented, I suggest revisiting the 1932-1934 efforts by the international deep state to impose a fascist dictatorship upon Americans and even overthrow the elected government of Franklin Roosevelt with a JP Morgan-funded military coup d’état.

The Fascist Economic Miracle Solution of 1932

1932-1934 was a period of history that saw the world torn down into a deep depression which the people of Europe and America were told by their media, could only be solved by the “economic miracle solution” of a new system of governance known as “fascism”.

This “fascist economic solution” took hold in Europe with the quick rise of Nazism, Franco and Mussolini’s Corporatism as well what later became Vichy France. In English Canada, the League for Social Reconstruction was ready to take power in 1932 and French-speaking Canada was quickly embracing the Nazi-inspired political party of Adrien Arcand. The British governing class, led by the royal family were fully backing Nazism, and Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists was rising faster than ever. All of these movements came in different flavors but were united under a cold utilitarian philosophy of government, a devout love for eugenics (the racist “science” of population control) and addiction to City of London/Wall Street money.

In the United States however, things weren’t going as smoothly.

The Rise of Franklin Roosevelt

Even though the financial elite of Wall Street had pulled the plug on the system four years earlier, the population had still not been broken sufficiently to accept fascism as the solution which Time magazine told them it was. Instead, the people voted for one of the few anti-fascist presidential candidates available in 1932 when Franklin Roosevelt was elected under the theme of taking the money lenders out of power and restoring the constitution.

In his March 4, 1933 inaugural address FDR stated:

“Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men. True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish. The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.”

During FDR’s famous 100 Days, an all-out war was declared on the “economic royalists” that had taken over the nation. Audits and investigations were conducted on the banks in the form of the Pecora Commission, and the biggest financial houses which had spent billions on fascist parties of Europe were broken up while speculation was reined in under Glass-Steagall. Meanwhile a new form of banking was unveiled more in alignment with America’s constitutional traditions in the form of productive credit and long term public works which created real jobs and increased the national productive powers of labor.

Many people remain totally ignorant that even before his March 4, 1933 inauguration, Franklin Roosevelt narrowly avoided an assassination attempt in Florida which saw 5 people struck by bullets and the mayor of Chicago dying of his wounds 3 weeks later. Within days of the mayor’s death, the assassin Giuseppe Zingara was speedily labelled a “lone gunman” and executed without any serious investigation into his freemasonic connections. This however was just a pre-cursor for an even greater battle which Wall Street financiers would launch in order to overthrow the presidency later that year. This effort would only be stopped by the courageous intervention of a patriotic marine named Smedley Darlington Butler.

Who was General Butler?

Born in 1881 to a family of patriotic Quakers, Smedley Butler quickly rose through the ranks of the military becoming the most decorated military figure of U.S. History- a record he holds to this day with multiple medals of honor, an Army distinguished service medal and Marine Corps Bruvet medal (to name just a few).

By the end of the British-orchestrated meat grinder known as WWI, the General had become an activist patriot giving speeches across America in denunciation of the private financiers steering America’s war-driven economy. Speaking to veterans in August 1933, the general said:

“I have spent 33 years being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism… I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1916. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City [Bank] boys to collect revenue in. I helped rape half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street… In China, I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested… I had a swell racket. I was rewarded with honors, medals, and promotions. I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was operate a racket in three cities. The Marines operated on three continents…”

In spite of his outspoken criticism of crony capitalism, Wall Street’s elite simply presumed all men had their price, and Butler was probably just indignant because he was never given a big enough piece of pie.

The Wall Street Putsch Is Launched

These financiers needed someone like Butler to channel the rage of the striking veterans of WWI across America who had been fighting for the bonus pay promised them years earlier but which didn’t exist due to the 1929 collapse. A force of hundreds of thousands of disgruntled seasoned soldiers was exactly what was needed to overthrow Roosevelt, but leadership was sorely lacking, and General Butler was their man for the job. He was a war hero who was seen as honest and loved by the veterans. He was perfect.

Under the guiding hand of JP Morgan’s Grayson Prevost Murphy, two representatives of the American Legion (Commander Bill Doyle and bond salesman Gerald MacGuire) approached Butler in July 1933 for the job of rallying the Legion’s veterans and began dropping hints of a larger coup plot. Butler became suspicious, but continued playing along with the plan to see how far this went up the ladder of power[1].

Over the course of the next several months, Butler discovered that America’s financial elite centered around John Pierpont Morgan Jr., the Harrimans, the Melons, Warburgs, Rockefellers and Duponts were at the heart of the plot. These men used their agents such as Gerald MacGuire a Morgan-affiliated bond salesman, Democratic Party controllers John W. Davis and Thomas Lamont (both occupying directorships in the House of Morgan), Robert Sterling Clark (heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune), Grayson Prevost Murphy and Harriman Family investment banker Prescott Bush. All of these characters had become well known “investors” in European fascism, owned the biggest media platforms including Fortune and Time Magazine (both of which promoted Mussolini extensively for years), and controlled the levers of industry.

Luckily, the 1932-1934 Pecora Commission exposed these forces publicly as the architects of the great depression, making their ability to acquire popular support and sympathy more than a little difficult.

Outlining his Committee’s findings Pecora had written publicly:

“Undoubtedly, this small group of highly placed financiers, controlling the very springs of economic activity, holds more real power than any similar group in the U.S.A.”

Butler Blows the Whistle

When the time was right, Butler blew the whistle by approaching the Special Committee on Un-American Activities (the McCormack-Dickstein Committee) which began an investigation on November 20, 1934. Unlike the Committee on Un-American Activities which made its reputation destroying patriotic lives under the communist witch hunt of McCarthyism, this earlier version was aligned to FDR and dedicated solely to identifying Nazi activity in America.

At first sceptical of the general’s claims, the committee soon  substantiated everything over the course of  a month long investigation and made their findings public to FDR and congress on December 29, 1934. An invaluable part of the hearings were the testimonies of journalist Paul Comly French whom Butler recruited to act as the general’s intermediary with the bankers.

Butler told the committee that MacGuire stated it

“wouldn’t take any constitutional change to authorize another cabinet official, somebody to take over the details of the office—to take them off the President’s shoulders” and that “we’d do with him what Mussolini did to the King of Italy”.

When French asked MacGuire how the coup would help solve unemployment, MacGuire responded:

“We need a fascist government to save the nation from the Communists… It was the plan that Hitler had used in putting all of the unemployed in labor camps or barracks—enforced labor. That would solve it overnight.”

Although the full transcripts were not made public, Butler did get the message to the population by giving his story to as many journalists as possible and recorded a message to the people in 1935 which should be listened to in full.

The Aftermath of the Exposure

This exposure, alongside the Pecora Commission findings, and earlier failed assassination attempt gave FDR the ammunition he needed to force America’s deep state into submission (at least for a while). As I outlined in my recent paper, FDR’s fight to stop a central bankers’ dictatorship started from the earliest days of his presidency to his dying breath on April 14, 1945.

Incredibly, after the sanitized and redacted 1934 report was published, the committee was disbanded (to be reformed later under a fascist mandate), and the thousands of pages of transcripts were buried for years- only officially made public in the 21st century- the contents of which can be found here with censored testimony in red.

The coup plotters lost no time forming a new organization on August 22, 1934 called the American Liberty League which spent the next decade sabotaging FDR’s New Deal. This group made every effort to promote an American alliance with Axis powers (until 1941’s Pearl Harbor attack), widely financed eugenics, and after FDR died, acted as the driving force behind the McCarthyite police state in America during the Cold War. Without understanding this fascist deep state operation within the heart of the American establishment, it were impossible to make sense of the manichean Cold War dualism that destroyed FDR’s vision for a world of cooperating sovereign nation states or.

This organization also gave birth to such think tanks as the American Enterprise Association, Heritage Foundation and CATO institute which incrementally made Austrian school economics a part of the American right. Anyone wishing to understand what created the Frankenstein Monster called “neo-conservativism” during the last 60 years would not get very far without understanding the role of the American Liberty League and its hell spawn.

Today, a new systemic meltdown of a $1.5 quadrillion derivatives bubble has similarities to the 1929 crash and other similarities to the 1923 hyperinflation of Weimar. While the coronavirus may or may not be used to trigger this new blowout, one thing is certain: a new fascist coup and general war should be taken more seriously than ever.

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This article was originally published on Matthew Ehret’s Insights.

Matthew Ehret is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Patriot Review, Senior Fellow at the American University in Moscow, and Director of The Rising Tide Foundation. He has authored three volumes of the Untold History of Canada book series and four volumes of the Clash of the Two Americas. He hosts Connecting the Dots on TNT Radio, Breaking History on Badlands Media, and The Great Game on Rogue News.

Note

[1] The Legion was a very different beast from the benign organization of old veterans it is known as today, as it was originally founded with Wall Street capital in 1919 and was run early on as a fascist machine. Legion Commander Alvin Owsley made this explicit in 1921 when he said: “If need be the American Legion is ready to protect the institutions of this country and its ideals, in the same way as the Fascists have treated the destructive forces threatening Italy. Don’t forget that the Fascists are for today’s Italy what the American Legion is for the United States.”

Featured image source

O Presidente ucraniano, Vladimir Zelensky, parece cada vez mais insatisfeito com a forma como o Ocidente está a lidar com o conflito contra a Rússia. Em vez de cooperar para reduzir a escalada de tensões, o líder ucraniano exige um aumento significativo dos esforços militares, embora saiba que o seu país nunca terá qualquer hipótese de reverter a trágica situação militar atual.

Numa declaração recente, Zelensky disse que os EUA e outros países ocidentais estão a atrasar a ajuda à Ucrânia e não parecem dispostos a agir de forma decisiva para proteger Kiev – especialmente no que diz respeito à defesa aérea. As suas palavras foram proferidas durante uma reunião com o novo Secretário-Geral da OTAN, Mark Rutte, que se deslocou a Kiev apenas dois dias depois de tomar posse. Zelensky enfatizou a alegada “necessidade” de convencer os países da OTAN a usar todo o seu poder de defesa para proteger o espaço aéreo ucraniano.

Na opinião do presidente ucraniano, é necessário usar armas ocidentais em larga escala para abater mísseis, drones e aeronaves russos. No entanto, ele acredita que as nações ocidentais não estão “prontas” para tomar tal decisão, condenando o alegado “medo” que impede a OTAN de intensificar ainda mais a guerra.

Zelensky deixou claro que as forças armadas do seu regime não têm atualmente armas suficientes para enfrentar adequadamente a Rússia. Ele disse que é necessário expandir as capacidades da Ucrânia tanto em quantidade como em qualidade de equipamento, especialmente em termos de armas de longo alcance e sistemas de defesa aérea.

“Continuaremos a convencer os nossos parceiros da necessidade de abater mísseis e drones russos (…) [No entanto] Eles ainda não estão prontos (…) [A Ucrânia precisa] de uma quantidade e qualidade suficientes de armas (.. .), incluindo armas de longo alcance, cujo fornecimento, na minha opinião, está a ser adiado pelos nossos parceiros”, disse Zelensky.

Em resposta aos apelos de Zelensky, Mark Rutte agiu de forma puramente burocrática. Ele enfatizou o seu apoio pessoal a Kiev e aos membros da OTAN para chegarem a um consenso sobre como a aliança pode cooperar na defesa da Ucrânia. Rutte reiterou a promessa de longa data da OTAN de aceitar a adesão da Ucrânia no futuro, mas não deu qualquer garantia sobre quando isso poderá acontecer.

No que diz respeito especificamente ao pedido de ação direta da OTAN em território ucraniano contra a força aérea e a artilharia russas, Rutte evitou dar quaisquer sinais claros de apoio ou condenação a nível pessoal ou institucional. Disse que esta decisão cabe soberanamente aos Estados-membros e que não há nada que a OTAN possa fazer senão consultar a opinião individual de cada país.

“[Quero] deixar bem claro para vocês, para o povo da Ucrânia e para todos que estão assistindo, que a OTAN está ao lado da Ucrânia (…) Chegará o dia em que a Ucrânia será membro de pleno direito da OTAN (…) [No entanto] Abater drones ou mísseis que violam o território aliado são, obviamente, decisões que cabem às autoridades nacionais (…) [Continuamos] a ficar de olho quando estas situações surgem”, disse Rutte.

Como é sabido, a defesa aérea é hoje uma das principais fraquezas da Ucrânia. Aviões, mísseis e drones russos atravessam livremente o espaço aéreo ucraniano em manobras destinadas a atingir os objetivos estratégicos da operação militar especial. A defesa aérea de Kiev entrou em colapso devido à alta precisão dos ataques russos e às dificuldades logísticas e operacionais do conflito. De acordo com muitos teóricos militares, é absolutamente impossível vencer uma guerra convencional moderna sem controle do espaço aéreo, razão pela qual não é surpreendente que a Ucrânia esteja numa situação tão desastrosa no campo de batalha.

Como “solução” para este problema, Zelensky propõe duas medidas: a autorização de ataques de longo alcance contra “alvos profundos” – como aeroportos militares que a Rússia alegadamente estaria a utilizar para manobras aéreas no conflito – e a participação direta de Pessoal e equipamento da OTAN em solo ucraniano para abater aviões, drones e mísseis russos. Ambos os casos resultariam numa guerra direta entre Moscou e a OTAN, razão pela qual a aliança atlântica tenta evitar tomar medidas tão perigosas.

Zelensky está obviamente desesperado. Ele sabe que não pode fazer nada para reverter a vantagem militar que a Rússia tem, e é por isso que procura pelo menos adiar a derrota final, pressionando por medidas suicidas. No entanto, a OTAN é liderada pelos EUA e Washington não está interessado em entrar numa guerra direta com Moscou, uma vez que, além de ser suicida, afetaria significativamente os atuais planos americanos – que estão focados em resolver a situação interna em plena crise eleitoral.

Tudo o que Zelensky pode fazer é continuar a lamentar, pois é pouco provável que as suas exigências sejam satisfeitas. Tudo o que a Ucrânia está a passar é consequência da sua decisão irresponsável de servir como proxy contra a Federação Russa.

Lucas Leiroz

Artigo em inglês : US, NATO ‘not ready’ for further escalation in Ukraine, 4 de Outubro de 2024.

Imagem : InfoBrics

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Lucas Leiroz, membro da Associação de Jornalistas do BRICS, pesquisador do Centro de Estudos Geoestratégicos, especialista militar.

Você pode seguir Lucas Leiroz em: https://t.me/lucasleiroz e https://x.com/leiroz_lucas

Uncovering World Tyranny and Its War Strategies. Peter Koenig and David Icke

By David Icke and Peter Koenig, October 07, 2024

David Icke talks about the corralling of the world population into ever smaller spaces under the pretext of “climate change” that requires a “net-zero” CO2 world, no travel, no industry, promoting the “15-minute cities”. It is absurd. 

Bibi Will Bomb Iran. Or Maybe Not

By Mike Whitney, October 08, 2024

Iran no longer believes that simply demonstrating the capability of its missile systems is changing Israel’s behavior. So, the next time Iran is forced to attack, it’s going to inflict as much damage on Israel as humanely possible.

Iran-Russia Strategic Meeting. What Putin Will Probably Discuss with Iran’s Pezeshkian

By Andrew Korybko, October 08, 2024

Their meeting will be important, but not in the way that some have convinced themselves it will be with regard to imagining that Russia will promise to support Iran if it enters into a full-scale hot war with Israel.

Did Iran Just Test a Nuclear Weapon?

By Drago Bosnic, October 08, 2024

On October 5, local sources reported that a 4.6-magnitude earthquake hit an area in the Kavir desert, 44 km southwest of Semnan, a city in northern Iran. However, following the reports, some sources pointed out that this was an “unclear seismic event” not entirely consistent with patterns commonly seen in naturally occurring earthquakes.

The Legacy of Colonial History. Reflection on the Aims of Past Wars and Wars to Come

By Dr. T. P. Wilkinson, October 08, 2024

Why settler-colonialism can prevail in Palestine in forms that even heads of state are now likening to those of the NSDAP tyranny? While all manner of institutions, monuments, and artefacts are being renamed, removed or vandalized because of their imputed relationship to racism, colonialism, slavery or some other grave injustice (mainly in Britain and the US), the uninterrupted century of settler-colonial terror in Palestine barely caused a ripple.

Hurricane Milton Is So Unusual That It Does Not Seem Natural

By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, October 08, 2024

Milton originated as a minor disturbance in the Pacific, was lifted over Mexico and appeared as a hurricane in the Gulf itself between Mexico and Texas. It is unusual–perhaps unprecedented–for a hurricane to originate in the Gulf itself.

Climate Instability Worldwide: Does the US Military “Own the Weather”? “Weaponizing the Weather” as an Instrument of Modern Warfare?

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, October 08, 2024

COP28 endorses CO2-Net Zero. The fake narrative of reducing greenhouse gas emissions sets the stage for triggering economic and social chaos. Bill Gates has generously come to the rescue of  family farms by buying up bankrupt farms all over America.

The agreement between London and Mauritius on the return of the Chagos Archipelago was welcomed by the Argentine Foreign Ministry as a step towards the recovery of sovereignty over the Islas Malvinas, more commonly known as the Falkland Islands.

Buenos Aires welcomed the historic agreement between the United Kingdom and the African island country to return the Chagos archipelago, which was colonised more than half a century ago. Aware of the case’s parallels with the historic dispute with London over sovereignty for the Falkland Islands, Argentina issued an announcement expressing hope in recovering the archipelago.

On X, the Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, Diana Mondino, stated on October 3:

“We celebrate this step in the right direction and ending obsolete practices. Following the path we have started, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty of our Malvinas Islands. The Malvinas were, are and will always be Argentine.”

The reaction to the news was immediate. The British governor of the Falkland Islands, Alison Blake, stated that

“the legal and historical contexts of the Chagos Archipelago and the Falkland Islands are very different. UK Ministers have been very clear throughout the process that the UK will not agree to anything that runs the risk of jeopardising sovereignty in other Overseas Territory.”

According to Buenos Aires, the event marks a direct precedent for advancing the diplomatic resolution of the conflict that began almost two centuries ago and whose peak of tension exploded with the war waged in 1982 –during the Argentine military dictatorship–culminating in the UK’s victory.

Nonetheless, this news of the Chagos Archipelago can be defined by one word for many Argentines: hope. It is an important step for international law and a victory for justice for all states facing a similar situation. The recovery of the archipelago results from serious, consensual and constant work by the Republic of Mauritius, which has always sought the same objective for decades. Argentina will take this case as a reference to move forward in the recovery of sovereignty.

Despite Blake’s denial, there are parallels between the case of the African country and that of the South American country. These are two cases of decolonisation in which the colonial power is the same. In addition, in both cases, the territorial integrity of the colonised state was violated, whilst the colonial power expelled parts of its population.

The triumph of the Mauritius Islands has a clear impact and consists of progress towards decolonisation. In the last instance, international pressure forced London to sit down and discuss the conditions for the transfer.

However, the greatest issue Buenos Aires faces is the changing diplomatic strategy over the years, depending on the political leanings of successive governments. At times, the country has tried to be more rigorous in its dealings with the UK. However, in certain circumstances, the Latin American country has opted to seduce its British counterpart, thinking that in this way, it could reach a rapprochement and, in some uncertain future, a solution. Although the claim to sovereignty is a national banner that no government has given up, there is no consistency in achieving that goal.

In some cases, approaching dialogue with London presents dissimilar views within the same administration. The clearest example is the current administration of Javier Milei, which announced last month an agreement with the UK for the resumption of weekly flights from São Paulo in Brazil to the Falkland Islands.

Through her social media on September 27, Argentine Vice President Victoria Villarruel denounced the flights:

“The proposed agreement announced with the United Kingdom is contrary to our Nation’s interests. It proposes to provide continental logistical support to the occupation and, in fact, allow them to continue plundering our seas.”

“It is incredible that while the US offers us coast guard ships to protect our Argentine sea from extra-continental pillage, we propose to cooperate with the power that usurps our territory,” she added.

Buenos Aires is not alone in its claim. Over the decades, Argentina has garnered support from powers worldwide, who have consistently backed the country in key bodies such as the United Nations. Not only do the majority of South American countries support Argentina, but major players such as China and Russia have spoken out on various occasions to support their claim. This has been a constant over the years and in different international scenarios.

Beijing’s solidarity is rooted in its policy of “One China.” In this context, the photograph released by provincial legislator Agustín Romo—from La Libertad Avanza, Milei’s party—in which he appears posing with a representative of the Taiwanese Trade Office takes on serious significance. Having an undefined view on the case of Taiwan or the statements that the president has made since the Chinese government lambasted him due to ideological prejudices does not help at all. Argentina is officially committed to respecting the principle of One China, and similarly, China has always committed to respecting Argentine sovereignty regarding the question of the Malvinas Islands.

In this way, Argentina maintains allies in its pursuit to end Britain’s occupation of the Falkland Islands, a cause that could be strengthened following the UK’s return of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from InfoBrics

I am not a meteorologist. I am merely reporting facts as reported by meteorologists, such as the one below.

I have lived on Florida’s Gulf Coast for a quarter of a century. I have experienced a number of hurricanes but not the high categories of recent years. Normally a hurricane originates in the Atlantic or Caribbean, crosses Cuba into the Gulf and then hits anywhere from Texas to Florida.

Milton originated as a minor disturbance in the Pacific, was lifted over Mexico and appeared as a hurricane in the Gulf itself between Mexico and Texas. It is unusual–perhaps unprecedented–for a hurricane to originate in the Gulf itself. The warm waters of the Gulf is where tropical depressions and tropical storms intensify into hurricanes as they enter the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean.

Milton intensified over Sunday night from a Category 1 to a Category 5 with current sustained wind speed of 160 mph and 200mph wind gusts which makes it almost an enormous tornado.

The meteorologist describes the rapid intensification and other aspects of the hurricane as “unprecedented,” “very rare,” “crazy.”

Hurricane Milton Becomes Category 5

It seems that what we are presented with is a hurricane that began as a Category 1 hurricane inside the Gulf and became overnight a Category 5 that is expected to further intensify. “Unprecedented” does seem to be the right word.

Global warming advocates will say Milton is a product of global warming. Let’s examine this hypothesis. Judging from the disappearance of some glaciers and the open arctic waterways, there does seem to be some global warming. (Evidence of warming does not prove it is caused by fossil fuel technology and cattle herds. Global warming might simply be a reflection of the normal heating and cooling patterns of the planet or sun.)

Let us consent to the global warming, but not to its cause, as the cause is not relevant to whether Milton is a product of global warming. The global warming we are talking about is a fraction of a degree over a period of time. The transformation of hurricanes from Category 1 to Category 4 or 5 is recent. How does a small increase over time in temperature result in a very sudden massive increase in the intensity of hurricanes?

Perhaps someone can explain this?

Today I provide in the Guest section two concise factual reports on the governments’s decades long experimentation with weather modification and historical acknowledged examples. You will see not only dramatic intensification of hurricane strength but extraordinary changes in path as a result of government intervention.

Is it merely a coincidence that Helene and Milton have wiped out the ability of Florida and the Southeast to vote for Trump? Physical voting stations are no longer existent. The US Post Office has stopped delivery of mail-in ballots to impacted areas.

Is it merely a coincidence that the land on which sit the destroyed NC towns can now be made available to lithium mining companies?

Is it merely a coincidence that a lesson has been given to red states?

America is being driven into tyranny. The idiot American women think that the issue is abortion, which is a matter not for Trump or Kamala, but for the judiciary.

The idiot conservatives think the issue is the budget deficit or standing up to Russia, China, and Iran at the risk of nuclear war.

The idiot woke-liberal-left think it is their opportunity to steal power without comprehending that the chaos that results is ungovernable.

If we look objectively at the United States we see a government, perhaps merely a puppet of a ruling elite, that has no connection to reality. We see a Democrat government actively engaged in destroying the white ethnic Americans with denunciations of them as “Trump Deplorables,” “racists,” “white supremacists,” “threats to democracy,” “Russian agents.”

We see former US Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry calling for the abolishment of the First Amendment. He is joined by Hillary Clinton, and a large number of university law faculties and deans. And by the New York Times “1619 Project.” And by the course curriculums of US universities and public schools.

I have often wondered how many of the parents, who attend school board meetings and protest the indoctrination of their children that they are racist, who protest the indoctrination of their children that they might have been born into the wrong body, and who protest the sexualization of their children long before they reach puberty, and whose protests cause them to be thrown out of the meeting or arrested by police, still vote Democrat. I would bet that a majority of them will still vote Democrat.

One cannot help but wonder if the American people are not too insouciant and stupid to be able to remain a free people.

Of course, in the Woke-Democrat definition of freedom, freedom, as John Kerry and Hillary Clinton have made clear, consists in Democrat control over the narratives.

It should alarm us that there is no uproar when top Democrats and law school deans attack the First Amendment. It seems the First Amendment will be another victim of American insouciance.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Paul Craig Roberts is a renowned author and academic, chairman of The Institute for Political Economy where this article was originally published. Dr. Roberts was previously associate editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy during the Reagan Administration. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Hurricane Milton during the afternoon of October 7, 2024. (From the Public Domain)

Down at my grocer’s for half a dozen eggs and some melon, I answered the usual question about my well being openly as accustomed. My neighbour is a friend and his query is sincere. After recounting local concerns he expresses his frustration, one more people certainly share, that they can witness audio-visual depictions of the rampage in the Gaza concentration camp of occupied Palestine on television and hear the words of the ostensible leaders of the great states in the United Nations assembled say little and do less to stop the carnage. Of course neither of us is in a position to raise more than private outrage. I add however that this performance of mass murder has been escalating since the end of the Great War when the great states of British Empire, the French Republic and the United States agreed to the European colonization of a strategic prize from the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1918.

Neither of us was alive at the time. Nor were we contemporary with the declaration of statehood by those colonizers on 14 May 1948. The stories we were told to explain and justify European colonization at the same time when those states had proclaimed in San Francisco the universal rights to self-government even for brown people, were that the Europeans concerned had been so punished by the Great Powers through the centuries, especially most recently by the two-time loser among the Great Powers—Germany, that as an act of contrition the population of Palestine had been chosen for collective retribution. That is to say, the brown inhabitants of Palestine in the British Mandate were chosen as a people to be punished, deprived of life, liberty and property, as a penalty for the evils inflicted upon a mass of Europeans whose most important characteristic was that they had been identified as Jews. In the case of Germany under the NSDAP many of the Europeans in question had been deprived of their citizenship as Germans and defined as Jewish by nationality. Thus under the NSDAP tyranny they were deprived of all their rights as citizens of the state in which they had been born and to whom they had owed allegiance, by operation of law and administrative procedure. One of the principle formalized in the conventions adopted with the United Nations Charter stipulated that no one could be deprived of their nationality against their will. Thus it would seem the acts of the German regime were declared retroactively violations of human rights. Unfortunately this principle, like so many others adopted by the Great Powers, was not taken very seriously when skin complexions or geographical locations differed from those of the charter members of the League of Nations successor club. Very little in the stories we were told addressed the obvious inconsistencies between the expressed prohibitions, e.g. collective punishment and deprivation of nationality, when applied to skin colours.

Moreover the stories we were told conflated the victims of the NSDAP regime, a tyranny that enjoyed massive financial and covert political support from the commanding heights of Western industry and finance, with an established settler-colonial movement about which so little was said as possible. While we were entertained by Hollywood productions—beginning with the show trials in Nuremberg and their later film adaptation cast with famous stars of American stage and screen— and continuing with the Leon Uris’s pulp fiction, also adapted for propaganda cinema—the settler-colonial movement was busy practicing what they had no doubt learned from seminars with experts like Adolf Eichmann behind a screen of genuine NSDAP victims and displaced persons manipulated to lend legitimacy to the crimes it continues to perpetrate, live on TV as this is being written. All of this was known to representatives, high and low, of the Great Powers that gave license to this invasion. Where reports of the crimes were not suppressed, the amazing control over mass media and brutal assassinations silenced them quickly.

It has often been said that those methodical Germans were so disciplined that they kept careful records, which could be used to incriminate them later. Thomas Suárez (State of Terror, 2016) found he could reconstruct enough of the criminal history of Zionist occupation of Palestine from the perpetrators records to suggest that not only the NSDAP regime was proud of its attention to detail. As we have seen over the past four years, one of the principal functions of mass media is to inoculate the population at large so as to make them resistant to facts. The details Suárez relates based on research in the National Archives (Kew, UK) cover the period until the declaration of statehood by the settler-colonial regime in Tel Aviv: in other words the behaviour of the founders before we were told that Tel Aviv was the only “democracy” in the Middle East with “the most moral army” on the planet. The book is worth reading if only as a corrective to the amnesiac shock suffered by millions who only discovered that there was “savage and relentless killing in Gaza” a year ago.

Suárez’s story is full of aid workers and UN officials being abused, attacked and murdered. The archives showed that meticulous account was taken of how many Palestinians the invaders were able to rape, torture, kill or otherwise violate and eliminate from the country in which they had been born. Deep intelligence operations throughout the West combined with well-funded and effective mass media campaigns in the US and Britain were as prevalent then as they are today. Innovations in lethality and terror accompanied every effort leading to statehood—and as can be seen beyond. Nobel Peace laureate Menachem Begin, a proud veteran of that era, could justifiably claim—as he indeed once did (in a January 1974 television interview Russell Warren Howe asked Begin “How does it feel, in the light of all that’s going on, to be the father of terrorism in the Middle East? “In the Middle East”, Begin bellowed, “in all the world”)—that they (Irgun et al.) had invented terrorism. Striking is the account of youth cadres, some as young as 13, who had been trained as terrorists within the trinity of Zionist paramilitary organisations (Hagana, Irgun and Lehi). Innumerable operations were performed by these highly indoctrinated cadres disguised in the attire typical of the natives (dressed as Arabs). Chronologically it becomes obvious that the methods of terrorism attributed in the West to Muslims were in fact all standard operating procedures for Zionist paramilitary death squads—long before there was any armed resistance to the Zionist invasion and occupation of Palestine.  

None of this historical context was part of our history lessons. Nor is it part of the ranting that counts for reporting now. I have heard enough said about my compatriots and their supposed affinity for fascism or natural racism—all based on the interminable repetition of increasingly bizarre films about the NSDAP era in Germany. That all ended in 1945. The insinuations have not stopped, although their application in the past four years defies coherent explanation. However the same regime has been in power in Palestine, de facto since the establishment of the Jewish Agency and de jure since statehood was declared.

It is worth noting that settler-colonialism was still high fashion in 1948 since the Union of South Africa and Rhodesia (also under British rule with a close relationship to Cecil Rhodes’ principal financial advisor) also proclaimed their nationalist version of white supremacy, apartheid. Despite many predictions to the contrary, they have not survived as long as the regime in Tel Aviv. The Afrikaner nationalist attempt to establish a racial-ethnic state with its own language (Afrikaans) and culture also failed. (see also Church Clothes: Land, Mission and the End of Apartheid, 2024) Decades of National Party rule were predicated on the potential onslaught awaiting whites on the continent if a strong white government did not defend them. There was no onslaught. In 1991 the feared horror of Bantu/ Black/ African communism had disappeared. Even the Afrikaner nationalist attempt to support its racial-ethnic state with a “white African” language and culture failed. Although Afrikaans remains one of South Africa’s nine official languages, there is no longer a single Afrikaans-medium university in the country since the apartheid constitution was abolished. The “Cape Dutch” had been established in South Africa since the 1600s and within a mere decade the whole edifice was gone.

That leaves us with the question; especially if one dares to take the absurd woke ideology currently propagated in the West at its word, why settler-colonialism can prevail in Palestine in forms that even heads of state are now likening to those of the NSDAP tyranny? While all manner of institutions, monuments, and artefacts are being renamed, removed or vandalized because of their imputed relationship to racism, colonialism, slavery or some other grave injustice (mainly in Britain and the US), the uninterrupted century of settler-colonial terror in Palestine barely caused a ripple. Is it ignorance, hypocrisy, or plain stupidity? What seems long ago now, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky (The Manufacturing of Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Media, 1988) nearly popularized the distinction between “worthy and unworthy victims”. In their propaganda model the mass media—and those who own it—decide which victims are worthy and hence treated as victims whose suffering is acknowledged and which victims are unworthy and whose suffering can be and is dismissed. This distinction is certainly helpful in calling attention to the silence and invisibility of a century of mass murder and terrorism, after 1948 state terrorism. In order to understand the source of silence, obfuscation, and mendacity, it is necessary to ask the questions how the “worthy victims” are chosen and also by whom?

What we say we know about the past is a construct. Even in the course of a conversation develops as a construct by which the exchange continues on the assumptions of two speakers as to the appropriate way to respond to what was just uttered. Each of us is unwittingly a small scale amateur historian when confronted with utterances, like “what did you mean?” or “what I meant to say was.” There is no way to know what definitively what someone was thinking in the past. One can only judge the utterance, either as memory (covertly) or as recording (written or audio), to have some chronological significance and respond to it as one deems appropriate. We have all heard people respond with statements like, “when I said that I did not mean what you think” or “the situation was different then” or “I can change my mind, can’t I? (When someone refuses or denies the interpretation of an utterance assigned to the past). We all know people whom we say are unreliable because in our judgement statements “in the past” do not permit predictions of future behaviour. “Oh he never comes on time” or “he always says one thing and does another”. In all these cases the purpose of our assessment is to control our own behaviour, our reaction to others. We can call it prediction if it means that it controls what we will do (it cannot control what we already have done.) At the same time we have certainly all heard “Oh you are being unfair. He is not always like that” or “He is never like that with me”. In other words the judgement that “he never does what he says he is going to do” is judged by someone else to be an inappropriate explanation and prediction for that person’s behaviour. At the same time it is certainly reasonable to reply, “maybe he does not behave that way with you but he does with me. I cannot rely on him.” At this point one is acknowledging that although it may be inappropriate to claim that “he is universally unreliable”, it is reasonable to say that “he is unreliable for me”—and it is my interest in reliability that is important here. My interest is another way of saying, reliability is a category of personal conduct which I value and which controls my interaction with others.

Explanations are unavoidable. Whether they are good explanations or bad explanations depends on the judgement of someone and on the interests controlling that judgement. Those interests may also include rendering no judgement that deviates from those others consider appropriate. So in more explicitly historical research, reflection and debate, the interests of the investigator may be controlled by the desire to be treated as a “serious historian” or “serious scholar”, another way of saying that investigation will be governed not only by one’s personal judgement but by what one perceives as the judgement of others as to the appropriateness of one’s work. Academic institutions and other venues where history (often conflated with the past) are the focus of human activity are not only repositories of data but organizations for structuring the use of that data. Structuring the use is another way of saying controlling the way those who are engaged in historical research or study respond to the artefacts and the utterances of other investigators or members of the research institution. There is data, e.g. documents, and utterances and redundancies in response to the data. In that sense historical research is no different from the activity in a chemistry laboratory. It is impossible to separate the utterances and redundancies of response that form an institution from the research product. There is no pure objective fact in the test tube or the archive that is self-evident. Explanations arise from attempts to respond to data in meaningful ways, for instance to control or predict our responses to other data. Even the most abstract forms of research constitute controls on the researcher, what he sees; what he may discover; what he discards or ignores.

A historical explanation, regardless of the volume and nature of the data available (whether known or unknown in scope), will always be a selection of data and its organization. It will always be governed by interests of the researcher or of other researchers or those on whose behalf the research is selected and performed or even of those to whom the researcher addresses his work, e.g. readership, students, public policy, etc.

The armistice of 1918 ended the open hostilities between the regular forces of the alliance (the British Empire, the French Republic and the United States) against those of Austria-Hungary, the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire, the so-called Central Powers. However it by no means ended the organized military operations on the Continent or the non-military warfare, as might have been expected by anyone who took the Wilsonian rhetoric at face value. War continued in Eastern Europe. The United States fought with Czech legions, Japanese troops and White Russians against the new Bolshevik government in the Soviet Union until 1922. Economic warfare continued throughout the interwar period despite negotiations and the conclusion of a plethora of treaties known under the rubric of Versailles. The Allies fought overtly or covertly to capture and allocate the extinguished empires among themselves while reinforcing their hold on the empires with which they began the war.

If war aims are not defined by what is announced in declarations but are ascertained by examining forensically the results, then such imputed war aims can be said to constitute a pattern. In other words, a sequence of distinguishable outcomes can form the basis for interpretation of belligerent conduct, specifying general aims or attitudes to explain present and future wars. Such patterns may be classified as instructions by which belligerents chose to wage war or analysis can identify the latent or implicit culture that drives the behaviour. The forensic examination serves to identify redundancies that must be practiced in order to sustain the institutional behaviour underlying the belligerence.

None of the foregoing would have been practically relevant in the 19^th century. However, the adoption and ratification of the General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy aka Kellogg – Briand Pact (1928) which declared war illegal as a means of resolving international disputes; a violation of international law also known as the law of nations. This pact has yet to be renounced by any of its principal signatories. Thus the prohibition stands. Therefore the determination of war aims and the causes attributed to such wars by those who wage them becomes highly relevant.

If the aims of a given war are not clearly understood, neither the appropriate defence nor a realistic negotiating position to end hostilities can be found, let alone pursued.

In battle, the assailing force seeks to magnify its impact by concealing the actual targets or objectives from the defender. In waging war itself the aggressor is obliged to justify the use of force within the rhetorical framework of the law of nations as commonly understood. Rhetorical legitimacy is no trivial weapon in the aggressor’s arsenal, especially under the League of Nations/ United Nations framework. The more intensely the claims are asserted, the more difficult it becomes to ascertain the effective aims. This is a peculiar aspect of modern ideological warfare. Silencing the defender in public opinion and international fora relies on domination of the totality of communications channels.

The history of modern warfare actually begins with the Crusades. These centuries of assaults against the declared enemies of Christendom always comprised both psychological and physical orders of battle. The papal-rabbinical infrastructure under the command of the Roman pontiff “preached” the Crusades. The military force unleashed through the vassals of the Latin Church wielded the swords and other instruments of death. The pulpit and ecclesiastical apparatus mustered the support needed to drain manpower and other resources for the campaigns of slaughter, demolition and plunder. Prospects of plunder and intangible wealth (salvation) have been essential to convince all those who sacrifice that they will be rewarded on Earth as it is in Heaven, or at least compensated for the material and bodily losses they have to bear.

This is no less true in the 21^st century than it was in the 11^th.

It is really quite remarkable that while the NSDAP era has been an almost obsessive target of historical research for as long as I can remember, the era in which the settler-colony in Palestine was established receives so little attention although its ostensible legitimation is derived from (retroactively) and enhanced by the very existence of the German fascist regime from 1936 until 1945. Although the ideological roots of Afrikaner nationalism and its close relationship to the doctrinal authors of German National Socialism have been investigated and publicly debated. The relationship between Zionism and Nazism has been given more muted attention. When Zionism and Nazism are discussed generally then there is a tendentious context, which fosters the conflation of Herzl’s ambitions with the campaign to funnel all displaced Jews from Europe into Mandatory Palestine under administration of the Jewish Agency. The implication is that Zionism anticipated the Nuremberg laws, the deprivation of Germans once classified as Jewish of their German nationality and their relocation – disposal, including enslavement and murder. However any attempt to examine the practices of the Tel Aviv regime over the past century in historical context, including comparison of those practices with practices under other regimes, has been vigorously discouraged.

Click here to read the full article on Seek Truth from Facts Foundation.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on Seek Truth from Facts Foundation.

Dr. T.P. Wilkinson writes, teaches History and English, directs theatre and coaches cricket between the cradles of Heine and Saramago. He is also the author of Church Clothes, Land, Mission and the End of Apartheid in South Africa. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image: Hitler with Nazi Party members in 1930 (Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 de)

On October 5, local sources reported that a 4.6-magnitude earthquake hit an area in the Kavir desert, 44 km southwest of Semnan, a city in northern Iran. However, following the reports, some sources pointed out that this was an “unclear seismic event” not entirely consistent with patterns commonly seen in naturally occurring earthquakes.

In addition, the very location of the event raises further doubts. This is particularly apparent in the case of the Kavir desert, with earthquakes being a rather rare occurrence in the area (the last one was in 2010). Interestingly, on the same day, Iran issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen, essentially a warning to all aircraft in a given area) for airspace over western Iran “every day from 17:00 UTC to 01:30 UTC until the 9th of October, for military operations”. Although the affected area is relatively far from where the alleged earthquake hit, the timing is certainly peculiar.

It could also be argued that the NOTAM is connected to the possibility of Israeli strikes after Iran fired at least 180 missiles at Israel on October 1. Tel Aviv’s actions in the Middle East, including direct attacks on Iranian assets in the region, have prompted Tehran to respond directly. Thus, it can be expected that these back-and-forth attacks will continue, making it perfectly reasonable that Iran would expect strikes from Israel. Obviously, any Israeli attack would be expected to affect western parts of Iran, explaining the NOTAM over the area. However, what makes this rather strange is that Tehran denied any NOTAMs were issued. Namely, Javad Salehi, the General Director of Communications and International Affairs of Imam Khomeini International Airport, claims no NOTAMs were issued for western Iran, although local sources insist that the warning was indeed sent out.

And yet, even if we ignore the NOTAM issue, the “mysterious seismic activity” that was reported on October 5 still leaves many questions unanswered. Other countries have also noted that the supposed earthquake was “strange”. Reportedly, an Armenian station picked it up and established that “it lacks a seismic compressional wave, making the event more consistent with an explosion than an earthquake”.

Further evidence suggests that it happened in the vicinity of Aradan, a small town in the Semnan Province, the birthplace of former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Images reportedly released by the Armenian station suggest that the “mysterious seismic event” in Iran looks more like an “underground nuclear test than an earthquake”, with one tell-tale sign being that “there was not a single aftershock”. If these reports are indeed true, these are certainly groundbreaking developments.

According to local sources, some prominent Iranian politicians said Tehran “needs to establish a new grade of deterrence” only a day before the alleged earthquake. If the event was indeed an underground nuclear test, such statements could refer to nuclear weapons. The Cradle reports that this could be an attempt by Iran to deter Israel from attacking its nuclear facilities. Quoting its Iranian sources, the outlet reports that “the possibility that a nuclear test was indeed conducted is being discussed at high levels in Iran”.

Last month, The Cradle’s Syrian sources reportedly predicted that “Iran would seek to develop breakout nuclear weapons capability in response to Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran”. Numerous Israeli decapitation strikes in recent weeks and months would certainly prompt Iran to acquire such a strategic deterrence capability.

And while a response to Haniyeh’s assassination was already expected, Tel Aviv’s strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) General Abbas Nilforushan on September 27 was what definitely triggered Tehran’s direct response. However, this is certainly not enough, as Israel obviously has the means to conduct decapitation strikes against its opponents in the region (particularly through Mossad).

Iran most likely believes only an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction would suffice as a credible means of deterrence. The same logic is present in Tel Aviv, which possesses a small nuclear arsenal of at least 90 warheads (with some sources claiming it could field upwards of 400, although this number remains unconfirmed). The possibility that both countries now have weapons of mass destruction is certainly an uneasy prospect.

For years, the mainstream propaganda machine has been reporting that Iran is a “week, month or year away from acquiring nuclear weapons”. Back in July, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that“instead of being at least a year away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material for a nuclear weapon, [Tehran] is now probably one or two weeks away”. Such speculation is so common that most people simply don’t pay attention to it. This is why the Heritage Foundation’s claim that “Iran can produce nuclear weapons far more rapidly than expected” went largely unnoticed. Published on the same day Iran launched its latest retaliatory strikes on Israel, the report noted that “in late April 2024, a senior Iranian lawmaker stated that there is only a ‘one-week gap from the issuance of the order to the first test’ [of a nuclear bomb]”. Once again, such claims were all too common for years.

However, while Tehran previously denied it even has a nuclear weapons program and insisted on using such technologies for peaceful purposes only, it seems this rhetoric is slowly being abandoned. Namely, back in May, Kamal Kharrazi, a senior adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that “Iran may be forced to change its nuclear doctrine”. Although he said that there’s “no decision to build a nuclear bomb”, Kharrazi also pointed out that “should Iran’s existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine”.

According to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), these statements were then followed by a “significant increase in Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to the 60% level between May and August”. The report further pointed out that uranium enriched up to 60% purity is “just a short, technical step away from the 90% required for nuclear weapons”.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from Times Now via InfoBrics

Rates of mental illness in children are rising rapidly, with psychotropic drugs being the conventional solution. The documentary “Kids on Pills” examines treatment options and long-term impacts of medicating children

U.S. doctors are more likely to diagnose children with conditions like bipolar disorder and prescribe multiple medications, while European doctors tend to be more conservative in their approach

Children in the U.S. often receive cocktails of powerful psychotropic drugs that have numerous side effects and health risks, with minimal evidence of benefit in many cases

The long-term effects of polypharmacy in children remain unclear. Some experts warn these drugs alter brain development when prescribed at young ages, causing lasting changes

Alternative therapies like occupational therapy and family-based interventions are encouraged. As parents, you must advocate for your children and consider nondrug approaches to address behavioral issues

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Rates of mental illness in children have risen at an alarming rate, and the conventional solution? Psychotropic drugs. Today, it’s no longer uncommon for children to receive a cocktail of medications to manage their mental health. But is this really the best course of action? Or are we just subjecting our children to severe side effects while inadvertently worsening their mental health in the long run?

The 2022 documentary “Kids on Pills: Happiness Out of a Bottle” from Only Human¹ takes a closer look at the treatment options for children with mental disorders. Directed by Stefanie Schmidt and Lilian Franck, the film compares how American and European children are treated and medicated for these conditions, and what the long-term impact on their health might be.

Rate of US Children with Bipolar Disorder Has Increased 4,000%

The documentary follows the lives of several children who have sought treatment from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for their mental health disorders. The doctors in Boston have been the subject of criticism and controversy for several years due to their early diagnosis of mental disorders among children, some only a few years old.

Siblings Anna and Will Birtwell, 9 and 6 years old respectively, have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (manic depression), and often struggle with unpredictable mood swings. Their mother, Kelli, narrates:²

“The tiniest thing would set off a two-hour rage or crying fit. She [Anna] might start saying things that someone says when they’re depressed. For instance, one week would be drawing butterflies and flowers and rainbows and all sorts of things that [are] happy. And then the next week, she would take a black crayon and scribble and rip the paper through, and she would say just things like ‘I don’t want to be alive anymore.’” 

Jaylene Quijada, also a patient at Massachusetts General Hospital, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was just 3 years old. In her case, the manic aspects of the condition are more evident. Jaylene’s psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Doyle, who is also the chief medical director at the hospital, comments:³

“Looking back, she was the most classic bipolar kid, with these full-blown, manic, giddy laughing, out of control, unable to be redirected children I’ve ever seen.”

However, physicians in Europe diagnose psychiatric irregularities like this differently. According to Dr. Martin Holtman,⁴ who has a clinic in Frankfurt, if the factors used to diagnose bipolar disorder in the U.S. were to be considered as mere behavior descriptions instead, then the children would be diagnosed with milder disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Holtman recounts how young American patients in Frankfurt might be given psychostimulants for their ADHD, but when these children go to the U.S. for vacation, they return with additional prescription medications, saying they’ve been diagnosed in the States as bipolar.⁵

Children in America Often Fall Victim to Polypharmacy

Polypharmacy refers to the use of multiple medications to address a health condition, and it is becoming prevalent among both the elderly and the youth. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Pediatrics,⁶ out of 302 pediatric patients surveyed, 68.2% have experienced polypharmacy.

In the featured documentary,⁷ Jaylene’s mother, Elizabeth, shared how Doyle has prescribed various types of medications to manage her daughter’s condition:

“About [age] 6, she started with the anxiety. So, I mentioned that to him [Doyle] and he said, ‘Well, let’s give her an antianxiety medication.’ So, at that point, he gave her Lorazepam to calm her down. That didn’t do anything. It just made her more hyper; it just made her more stimulated. So, he said, ‘Well let’s try Klonopin.’ We tried that — [it] didn’t help her. Nothing would help.

So, at that point we went back and forth. He just kept mixing the medication[s], like the Risperdal. That was the only thing that really helped her. So, we just kept upping the dose, upping the dose, splitting the doses up to see if that would help.”

Doyle adds that he even tried giving Jaylene small doses of lithium — a mood stabilizer with side effects like memory problems and seizures.⁸ It even poses a risk for kidney failure when used long-term.⁹ But it still didn’t work out, as Jaylene started to become confused and couldn’t think clearly, causing him to halt the lithium treatment.¹⁰

Meanwhile, Anna, who has been taking a new drug called Abilify to curb the manic side of her condition,¹¹ is shown to be struggling with severe mood swings and crying fits. Her mother says that according to her doctor, the new drug works to get rid of “the manic side” of the condition, but as a result, the depression manifests more, causing Anna’s intense outbursts.¹²

Indeed, U.S. children are now being plied with powerful drugs to treat mental health concerns. Rarely do these medications address the root of the problem. Plus, they create new issues of their own. The result? More symptoms that are then treated with additional medications.

Giving Children a Cocktail of Drugs Provides Very Little to No Benefit

There’s no doubt that overprescribing medications is ultimately setting children up for a downward spiral of increasing side effects and worsening health. The documentary mentions some of the side effects of psychotropic drugs on children, including weight gain, growth dysfunction, sleep problems, nervousness and mood swings. Medicated children are also at higher risk of diseases like heart disease and diabetes.¹³

What’s even more alarming is that drug cocktails have been shown to provide very little or no benefit. For example, a 2021 review published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology¹⁴ found that when selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were added to other ADHD treatments, there was only “minimal evidence of benefit for mood or anxiety comorbidities.”

In addition, the drug Strattera (atomoxetine) led to “mixed reports of benefit, including the only small RCT [randomized controlled trial] showing no benefit.” The study also highlighted that taking drug combinations frequently resulted in more side effects — as expected.

And although six million children in the U.S. are now taking psychotropic medications,¹⁵ many of these drugs are not approved for use in children. According to the featured film:

“Doctors can justify prescribing other medications earlier as ‘individual healing attempts’ — this is a regular occurrence in the U.S., which accounts for the majority of the 17 million children taking psychotropic drugs worldwide.”¹⁶

Dr. Dominik Riccio, director of the Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, explains why giving antipsychotic medications to children could be particularly damaging:¹⁷

“When you give an antipsychotic drug to anyone, especially children, you are causing an imbalance. It’s an exogenous substance that you’re putting into the brain and you’re causing a purposeful imbalance.

You’re doing very damaging things, in my opinion, to the child because you’re shutting down the centers of the brain that are responsible for creativity, for loving, for emotion, for feeling — the very things that make us human beings and discriminate us from the animals.”

The Long-Term Effects of Polypharmacy in Children Are Still Unclear

Eleven-year-old Raul, who has ADHD and bipolar disorder, has been on a cocktail of psychotropic drugs since he was diagnosed. According to his adoptive parents, Tessa and Terrence Williams, some of the prescription medications he was given include antianxiety medications like Buspar, stimulants like Concerta and Ritalin (methylphenidate), and even Depakote, an antiseizure drug.¹⁸

They also describe an incident in which Raul’s outbursts took a turn for the worse, and he became violent and had a seizure. He was hospitalized in the psychiatric ward for a month. Terrence shares how he was “very upset” as he was hopeful that the medications were working. “We thought perhaps we were turning a corner, but they actually really [went] downhill,” he said.¹⁹

The film states that without definitive studies, the long-term consequences of these drugs cannot be concluded, and with incidents like Raul’s, it’s often unclear whether it’s the illness or the medication that’s really responsible for the behavior.²⁰

European doctors also highlight the long-term risks associated with prescribing psychotropic drugs to young children. According to Dr. Bruno Müller-Oerlinghausen, a clinical psychopharmacologist, these drugs are “excitatory potent” — patients who take them often experience sleep disturbances, coordination problems, agitation and even suicidal thoughts.²¹

Dr. Gerald Hüther, a German neurobiologist who has done in-depth studies on Parkinson’s disease, also voices his concern about long-term methylphenidate use among young children, saying:²²

“Medication that changes the functioning of the brain, and is prescribed very early, also leads to the alteration in the maturation of the brain. If one prescribes the same psychotropic medication for an adult, then it’s as if one sets a wobbling train back on the tracks. But the tracks are all already there.

If these drugs are given to a child whose brain is still in the stage of development, then it’s as if it affects the building of the tracks. That means the train can drive somewhere else and that is then also verifiable.”

Nondrug Approaches for ADHD

In Europe, even though they still prescribe drugs to children, doctors are more conservative than U.S. doctors when it comes to prescribing multiple medications at a time. According to Holtman:

“We’re not quick to prescribe medication. In most cases, we don’t give high doses. We don’t give several types of medication. The Americans almost always don’t just take one type of medication. You could say they are taking a cocktail of drugs. So, we are being careful.”²³

In addition, seeking alternative therapies are encouraged, such as enrolling in rehab centers where children with ADHD work with their family and other families to develop traditional values, such as trust and strengthening the child-parent relationship to manage their condition. Jens Missler, whose young children Marc-Andre and Jan-Phillip have both been diagnosed, says:²⁴

“I don’t think that you can call it a general remedy. You try to integrate into daily life what you have learned as much as possible. It won’t always be easy, that’s obvious, but of course, you have to see what you alone have got out of it. We have to see what he wants to put into practice for himself, at his age and of course, how far we can propel him in that direction.”

Marc-Andre, before doing therapy, was unable to do simple tasks like catching a ball or hopping on one foot. After two years of occupational therapy, his concentration has improved, as well as his dexterity and ability to focus on one task at a time.²⁵

Yet, there’s no doubt that the urge to seek medication as a primary treatment is also increasing in Europe. Despite his successes in occupational therapy, Marc-Andre’s parents are planning to put him on methylphenidate, as he is set to begin school in a few months.²⁶

Be Your Child’s Advocate

In 2008, physicians from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital made headlines after it was discovered that they received millions of dollars of funding from pharmaceutical companies. It’s a clear indication of how Big Pharma is pulling strings to ensure that medications become the first line of treatment for adults and children alike.

In the documentary, Dr. John Abramson, a former psychologist and author of the book “Overdosed America,” comments:²⁷

“There’s definitely a relationship to the funding system of how the knowledge is produced and disseminated that creates the impression that physicians who are trying their best to help children will realize that goal by using drugs and expensive drugs instead of by doing what they did before these expensive drugs became the recognized therapy for pediatric bipolar disease.”

Advocating for your child is your responsibility as a parent; it is imperative that you stand up against allowing powerful corporations to rake in profits at the cost of your child’s well-being. If your child is dealing with an emotional or mental challenge, I recommend seeking help from a trustworthy physician who does not consider psychotropic drugs as the first choice of treatment.

“The treatment of children with psychotropic drugs is a science that is still partly experimental. Only the future will tell if the parents of these children have made the right decisions, and by then it will be too late to go back,” the film concludes.²⁸

You must also realize that most behavioral problems in children are related to an unhealthy diet, emotional upset and exposure to toxins. For example, paying attention to the health of your and your child’s gut microbiome is crucial. Research shows that the makeup of gut flora at birth and during a child’s first year of life plays a key role in the development of neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD.²⁹

Other toxic substances that have been associated with an increased risk of ADHD include lead, phthalates, BPA, pesticides and air pollution, as they disrupt brain development and neurotransmitter systems, affecting your child’s behavior and cognitive function. For more information on this, I recommend reading my article, “Why Do 1 in 9 Children Now Have ADHD Diagnosis?“

The Revolutionary Path to Healing and Longevity

For the last 50 years, I have been in a relentless pursuit of how to optimize health and wellness and prevent disease. Every year I get closer to the truth. But this time, I am convinced I have finally uncovered the kernels of truth that will help nearly everyone recover from whatever physical illness they are suffering with.

I’ve uncovered a groundbreaking revelation that has the astounding capacity to transform global health and that is the power of cellular energy. This isn’t just another health trend; it’s the fundamental key to unlocking your body’s innate healing abilities and achieving lasting vitality.

The Hidden Health Crisis

Nearly everyone reading this is only making about one-third of the energy they require to reverse disease and power their body to regenerate and repair damaged cells. Nearly all of us are in the black hole of self-perpetuating destruction of our gut bacteria that are crucial to help us regain our full energy potential.

Here’s a startling fact: A very sensitive and inexpensive blood test shows us that over 99% of us have insulin resistance, and as a result, are unknowingly living with compromised cellular energy. This silent epidemic explains why millions struggle with persistent health issues, feeling trapped in a cycle of treatments that never quite solves the problem. But there’s hope, and it lies within your very cells.

Imagine a life where your body hums with energy, where healing happens naturally, and where age is just a number. This isn’t a far-off dream — it’s the reality that I have been experiencing for over a year now and awaits when you master the art of cellular health.

Introducing ‘Your Guide to Cellular Health’

My newest book, “Your Guide to Cellular Health: Unlocking the Science of Longevity and Joy” is not just a manual — it’s your passport to a revolution in personal wellness. This comprehensive guide will empower you with life-changing knowledge:

• Discover how to fuel your mitochondria for boundless energy and rapid healing
• Uncover the secrets of metabolism that keep you vibrant and resilient against aging and disease
• Identify and eliminate the three primary mitochondrial saboteurs lurking in your environment
• Master innovative cutting-edge lifestyle and dietary strategies that supercharge your cellular energy production

This isn’t about quick fixes or temporary solutions. It’s about fundamentally transforming your health at its very foundation — your cells.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Notes

¹ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human

² YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 2:20

³ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 7:26

⁴ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 8:09

⁵ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 10:38

⁶ The Journal of Pediatrics, August 2024, Volume 271, 114056

⁷ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 20:35

⁸ NIH, Lithium, January 14, 2024

⁹ International Journal of Bipolar Disorders volume 11, Article number: 35 (2023)

¹⁰ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 21:15

^11, 15 YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 11:40

¹² YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 13:25

¹³ J Autism Dev Disord (2023)

¹⁴ J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. April 2021;31(3):148-163

¹⁶ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 14:46

¹⁷ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 21:43

¹⁸ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 22:28

¹⁹ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 25:21

²⁰ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 25:43

²¹ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 26:36

²² YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 28:48

²³ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 15:00

²⁴ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 16:25

²⁵ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 34:20

²⁶ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 41:14

²⁷ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 36:45

²⁸ YouTube, Medicating Children For Mental Disorders: Is It Right? Kids on Pills | Only Human, 42:29

²⁹ Cell, April 11, 2024, Volume 187, Issue 8, p1853-1873 

The reported Sino-Russo Coast Guard drills in the Arctic are proof of Russian support for this claim.

CNN reported last week that “China’s Coast Guard claims to have entered the Arctic Ocean for the first time as it ramps up security ties with Russia”, though at the time of writing, neither the Russian nor American Coast Guards confirmed their presence in the Arctic. CNN also noted that TASS’ report on this only cited the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) statement on its WeChat page. It’s therefore dubious whether the CCG actually entered the Arctic or just remained in the Bering Sea.

This distinction is important since the perception that Sino-Russo Coast Guard drills were just carried out in the Arctic, no matter how possibly inaccurate as clarified by CNN to its credit, could fuel the West’s efforts to contain Russia along that front. It also adds false credence to the artificially manufactured speculation that Russia is willing to cede sovereignty rights there to China after becoming disproportionately dependent on it over the past two years since the special operation began.

About that, readers should be aware of several relevant pieces of Russian legislation for governing its Arctic maritime territory. A 2017 law banned shipping oil, natural gas, and coal along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) under a foreign flag, while a 2018 one mandates that these ships will also have to be built in Russia. These were complemented by a 2022 law stipulating that all foreign warships must require prior permission to transit the NSR, and only one can do so at a time. These three laws remain on the books.

Their purpose is to ensure that Russia profits as much as is realistically possible from the NSR and can properly protect its sovereignty there. China poses no threat to Russian sovereignty, but allowing its warships to operate unrestricted within Russia’s territorial waters could raise the chances of an incident at sea with its Western Arctic rivals, especially the US. There’s also no reason for them to be there anyhow since Russia is more than capable of ensuring security along this route on its own.

The same can be said for the CCG seeing as how the Arctic is obviously far away from the Chinese coast, but it’s possible in theory that those of its icebreakers that already entered these waters for the first time over the summer could be escorted by the CCG as they lead the way for commercial vessels. If that happens, then this would likely be coordinated with Russia as part of a signal to the West as intuited by what head of the new Maritime Board Nikolai Patrushev hinted at in an interview over the summer.

This could possibly be preceded by formal naval drills in the Arctic Ocean, once again for the same purpose of sending a signal to the West, albeit a misleading one since China isn’t an Arctic naval power and it also has no mutual defense commitments to Russia like such a stunt might make some think. Those aforementioned false perceptions would be deliberately fanned in these scenarios for sending a signal to the West despite the likelihood that it would be exploited to fuel containment along this front.

Russia might conclude that there’s nothing that it can do to stop these developments anyhow so it’s therefore better to play along with these perceptions in order to boost its soft power across the Global South by making these countries think that it and China are jointly countering the West in the Arctic. Even in that case, however, Russia will remain the senior partner in this aspect of its relationship since it’s an actual Arctic state while China claims to only be a so-called “near-Arctic” one.

China’s policy is meant to ensure it a seat at the table in multilateral discussions about that body of water through which it plans to expand trade with Europe via the NSR. This is the natural evolution of its desire to play a greater role in global governance in general and specifically in all emerging frontiers like the Arctic, AI, climate change, etc. The CCG’s drills with their Russian counterparts there, even if they were only in the Bering Sea, reinforces its claim as a “near-Arctic state” due to its adjacency to the Arctic.

Russia tacitly supports this claim as proven by the above, but it remains unclear whether it’s comfortable with China playing a role in Arctic governance, which Russia is reluctant to internationalize since it fears that this could lead to more pressure to curtail the sovereignty rights that it enshrined into law there. All countries want to cut costs on trade so there’s no reason why China wouldn’t want its own natural gas, oil, and coal ships to sail along the NSR instead of having to contract Russia’s for this task.

To avoid any misunderstanding, nothing is being implied about an impending problem in their strategic partnership over this issue since all that’s being put forth is that they have natural differences over this issue, though they’ve thus far been responsibly managed and there’s no reason to expect this to change.  Sino-Russo cooperation in the Arctic is indisputably on pace to continue, including in the security dimension, though energy and logistical cooperation are expected to remain the drivers of this trend.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on the author’s Substack, Andrew Korybko’s Newsletter.

Andrew Korybko is an American Moscow-based political analyst specializing in the relationship between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, China’s One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from the author

On the one-year mark of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) laments the failure of the Canadian government to achieve a ceasefire and stop Israel’s murderous actions. With more than 42,612 Palestinians killed in Gaza and with Israel expanding its deadly attacks against the Lebanese people, CJPME believes that Canada’s continued inaction in response to Israel’s deliberate mass killing of civilians shows that it has failed to learn any lessons from the last year. CJPME urges Canada to respond to genocide by cutting off its ties with Israel, including through the imposition of a two-way arms embargo and sanctions on Israeli leaders.

“Over the past year, we have witnessed the collective failure of Canada and its NATO allies, especially the US, to stop genocide unfolding in Gaza. At home, Canadians have watched their political leaders and news media normalize, rationalize, and even cheer on Israel’s genocidal acts,” said Thomas Woodley, President of CJPME. “Canada must finally pull the plug on its support for this genocidal regime, and do everything it can to bring war criminals to justice.”

CJPME notes that Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people did not start on October 7, 2023, but followed 76 years of dispossession and 57 years of occupation and apartheid. Throughout these years of oppression – and especially under the Harper and Trudeau governments – Canada has continuously spoken of Israel as a friend and ally and sought to defend it from criticism. Consistent with this lamentable track record, it took many weeks following the start of Israel’s murderous assault on Gaza before the Trudeau government began to express sympathy for Palestinians, and months before it finally called for a ceasefire. Amid Israel’s murderous campaign, Canada responded by projecting the Israeli flag onto Parliament’s Peace Tower, defunding the UN agency for Palestine refugees, introducing a racist visa program that failed to reunite Palestinian families from Gaza, and allowing the continued flow of most arms exports to fuel Israel’s war machine.

“If anything has strengthened our resolve over the past year as we have borne witness to massacre after massacre, it is the fact that many thousands of Canadians in dozens of cities across the countries have continued to demonstrate every single week for a ceasefire and a two-way arms embargo. Trudeau must stop arming Israel’s actions, and join the vast majority of the public who oppose Israel’s appalling violence in Palestine and Lebanon,” said Woodley.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Le Bourget, outside Paris on November 30, 2015. Amos Ben Gershom/GPO

Their meeting will be important, but not in the way that some have convinced themselves it will be with regard to imagining that Russia will promise to support Iran if it enters into a full-scale hot war with Israel.

Putin plans to meet with new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at an event in Turkmenistan on Friday celebrating that host country’s most famous poet. The Russian leader’s attendance there was previously unannounced so it’s obvious that recent events prompted him to take time out of his busy schedule to meet with his Iranian counterpart for the first time since the latter took office this summer.

Here’s what they’ll likely discuss:

1. Iran’s Response to Israel’s Expected Retaliation

Israel has delayed what many expected to be its immediate response to Iran’s latest missile strike, which sets the precedent for Iran also possibly delaying its response to Israel’s seemingly inevitable retaliation, especially if it happens before Friday. Putin doesn’t want these back-and-forth attacks to lead to a larger war so he’ll likely lean on Pezeshkian to exercise restraint. For its part, Iran wants to learn what support Russia might provide it in the worst-case scenario, though it’ll probably be disappointed.

2. Defense Systems for Deterrence & De-Escalation

Building upon the above, it’s also possible that Putin will offer Pezeshkian state-of-the-art Russian air defense systems as part of his country’s policy of deterring a large-scale Israeli response for de-escalation purposes, though the equipment might not come in time (if it hasn’t already arrived per prior rumors). From Russia’s perspective, shooting down incoming Israeli missiles (if that’s how Israel responds) like Israel shot down incoming Iranian ones in spring could lead to a mutually “face-saving” lull in hostilities.

3. Their Updated Strategic Partnership Document

The Iranian Ambassador to Russia confirmed earlier this month that the updated Russian-Iranian Strategic Partnership document is ready for signing and could either happen on the sidelines of the upcoming BRICS Summit or at another time as part of a bilateral visit. These options will probably be discussed between Putin and Pezeshkian, who might also negotiate secret clauses such as those involving clandestine arms transfers per the prior and proceeding points.

4. Speculative Iranian Military Exports to Russia

Both sides have denied it, but reports have circulated for a while about Iranian drone and missile exports to Russia, which their leaders might also discuss during their upcoming meeting. If such clandestine transfers are indeed taking place, then Russia will want to learn whether they’ll continue in light of Iran’s newfound direct hostilities with Israel. Ensuring that their conflict doesn’t spiral out of control might therefore also be meant to ensure that more Iranian arms are available for Russia to buy.

5. Their Disagreement Over the Zangezur Corridor

The Russian-Iranian disagreement over the Zangezur Corridor was elaborated on herelast month, but it still remains and will therefore likely also be discussed by Putin and Pezeshkian. After all, it’s serious enough that Iran summoned the Russian Ambassador to complain, yet neither side has publicly changed their stance on this sensitive issue. If it continues to be an irritant in their ties, then the signing of their strategic partnership document might be delayed and Russian-Indian trade via Iran could be impeded.

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The Putin-Pezeshkian meeting will be important, but not in the way that some have convinced themselves it will be with regard to imagining that Russia will promise to support Iran if it enters into a full-scale hot war with Israel. Their leaders will discuss regional tensions, but the most that Russia is expected to do is possibly sell state-of-the-art air defense systems to Iran for deterrence and de-escalation purposes. Their meeting won’t be a game-changer and won’t reshape regional dynamics.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on the author’s Substack, Andrew Korybko’s Newsletter.

Andrew Korybko is an American Moscow-based political analyst specializing in the relationship between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, China’s One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image is from the author

The long-pervasive belief in American military supremacy is a myth; a mirage; a fallacious narrative fashioned from fables and Hollywood films. The US military has not won a war since WW2. They have mercilessly bombed the crap out of many smaller, weaker countries, killed millions of people, and yet never once achieved strategic victory. Not since WW2 have they faced anything even faintly approximating high-intensity warfare. Indeed, never at any time in history has the US military fought against a great power adversary at the height of its strength. And now, here in 2024, the US military has never been in a more weakened state relative to any of its potential great power adversaries — namely, Russia, China, and Iran….An epoch of great changes is upon us. —Will Schryver @imetatronink

Let’s cut to the chase: On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his most ominous statement to date. He said:

“Iran is behind all the threats against us. They launched hundreds of missiles against us in one of the biggest attacks in history. No country in the world would accept such an attack – Israel will not accept it either. Israel has the duty and the right to defend itself and respond to such attacks – and this is what we are going to do” (MegatronRon)

The statement has been interpreted by many as a straightforward pledge to launch a retaliatory strike on Iran. According to reports in the media, Israel’s war cabinet is debating whether to strike Iran’s oil infrastructure or its nuclear facilities. But whatever the target, Iranian officials have warned that ‘any Israeli attack’ will be met with an overwhelming and immediate response aimed primarily at Israel’s vital infrastructure. The warning was delivered in a short missive that was passed on to the Biden administration via allies in Qatar. The contents were later revealed in an article published by Aljazeera:

“We sent a message to Washington via Qatar, which addressed the situation in the region after our last strike on the Zionist entity, and in which we confirmed the end of the phase of unilateral self-restraint and that individual self-restraint does not secure the requirements of our national security, and any Israeli attack will be met with an unconventional response that includes infrastructure.”

In short, Iran no longer believes that simply demonstrating the capability of its missile systems is changing Israel’s behavior. So, the next time Iran is forced to attack, it’s going to inflict as much damage on Israel as humanely possible. It doesn’t get much blunter than that. If Israel attacks Iran, Iran is going to ‘bomb the hell’ out of Israel. Full stop.

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And that is why—as of Saturday afternoon—the Biden administration has deployed “Dozens of additional U.S. fighter jets (to) the Middle East”, along with 40,000 US military personnel and two carrier strike groups, all of which will be used in the upcoming Israeli war on Iran.

This is ‘the state of play’ as of Sunday, October 6. We are on the brink of a full-blown regional war that will inevitably involve both the United States and Russia.

But why would Biden agree to support Israel in a war against Iran when Iran just proved that its state-of-the-art ballistic missiles far exceed anything in Israel’s arsenal and are obviously capable of destroying Israeli military sites, energy platforms, intelligence centers and vital infrastructure? This is from a post by the Armchair Warlord:

The Iranian strike on Nevatim and Tel Nof Airfields … in Israel on Tuesday completely validated my analysis from April. In April the Iranians demonstrated they could defeat Israel’s BMD system at will and strike precision targets – this time they did damage. Video of the engagement suggests that the vast majority of the Iranian salvo – probably more than 80% – penetrated and struck targets in Israel. …..

The Iranians can be expected to have damaged aircraft, infrastructure, SAM systems, and AD radars at both airfields, as well as hitting several other targets elsewhere in the country less intensively. The effectiveness of the strike can be seen by simply observing the Israeli reaction – rather than an immediate counterattack they have withdrawn for deliberations, with some talk of a deescalatory downward-step retaliation against the Houthis or Hezbollah. The reason for this is simple – the Iranians have now demonstrated the ability to overwhelm the Israeli AD system at will and precisely strike targets, and with their missile shield ineffective the Israeli leadership is coming to terms with the fact they run a small and isolated country with a limited amount of critical infrastructure

At this point the Ayatollah can push a button and turn the lights out in Israel, and no amount of American money can prevent that. (Armchair Warlord@ArmchairW)

And, although the Israeli-friendly media has tried to sugarcoat Iran’s October 1 attack, (and make it look like a ‘big nothingburger’) some of the mainstream journalists have come to their senses and realize that madman Bibi wants ‘to have another go’ at Iran. Which, by the way, would be suicide. Check out this piece in today’s Guardian which is aptly titled: Escalation with Iran could be risky: Israel is more vulnerable than it seems:

Satellite and social media footage has shown missile after missile striking the Nevatim airbase in the Negev desert, and setting off at least some secondary explosions, indicating that despite the highly touted effectiveness of Israel’s Iron Dome and Arrow air defences, Iran’s strikes were more effective than had been previously admitted.

Experts who analysed the footage noted at least 32 direct hits on the airbase. None appeared to have caused major damage, but some landed close to hangars that house Israel’s F-35 jets, among the country’s most prized military assets….

“The core fact remains that Iran has proven it can hit Israel hard if it so chose,” writes Decker Eveleth, an analyst with the research and analysis group CNA, who analysed the satellite images for a blogpost. “Airbases are hard targets, and the sort of target that likely won’t produce many casualties. Iran could choose a different target – say, a densely packed IDF ground forces base, or a target within a civilian area – and a missile strike there would produce a large number of [casualties].”…

Israel’s counterattack appears to be imminent.… local journalists have been briefed that the response to the Iranian strike is imminent, perhaps to be timed just before or after the 7 October anniversary of the Hamas attacks.

The target options include Iranian military facilities – including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military sites or command and control centres – and energy infrastructure, such as oil refineries, which could lead to a similar strike on Israel. There is also the option of a direct strike on Iran’s nuclear programme, which Tehran has warned is one of its red lines and which Biden has warned Netanyahu not to do….

“ballistic missile ping-pong between Israel and Iran that at any moment can spiral out of control, can result in casualties in Israel that would then result in further escalation, and that could then pull the United States in” – resulting in Iranian allies targeting US forces and bases in the region.

In the attack, Vaez said, Iran had “used their most advanced weapons, and they have sufficient stockpile of being able to do that for months. That would be the world we’ll be ­living in unless somebody pulls the plug on this cycle of escalation. Escalation with Iran could be risky: Israel is more vulnerable than it seems, The Guardian

Think about that for a minute: Iranian ballistic missiles landed 32 direct hits on the Nevatim airbase, the most heavily defended airbase on the planet. The Iranians have shown that they can put their missiles on any target in any location in Israel putting at risk “the country’s most prized military assets.” That’s worth mulling over, don’t you think?

So, now, we are finally hearing the truth about the October 1 attack, mainly because Israel’s supporters are worried that Netanyahu is going to recklessly provoke Iran in order to drag the United States into the fray. But doesn’t Bibi know that such an action would wind up inflicting incalculable damage to Israeli infrastructure as well as the loss of an untold number of Israeli civilians?

Sure, he knows. But he’s betting that it will all be worth it if the US is able to weaken Iran to the extent that Israel will emerge as the dominant power in the region. You see, in Bibi’s eyes, Iraq, Syria and Libya were all great victories because they helped to reinforce Israel’s ambition to become the regional hegemon. Netanyahu’s recent speech at the United Nations further underscored this point. Here’s Bibi:

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Source: TUR

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This is the map I presented here last year…. It shows Israel and its Arab partners forming a land bridge connecting Asia and Europe. Between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, across this bridge, we will lay rail lines, energy pipelines, and fiber optic cables, and this will serve the betterment of 2 billion people….

…. to truly realize the blessing of a new Middle East, we must continue the path we paved with the Abraham Accords four years ago. Above all, this means achieving a historic peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

And having seen the blessings that we’ve already brought with the Abraham Accords, the millions of Israelis who have already flown back and forth across the Arabian Peninsula over the skies of Saudi Arabia to the Gulf countries, the trade, the tourism, the joint ventures, the peace—I say to you, what blessings such a peace with Saudi Arabia would bring….

It would be a boon to the security and economy of our two countries. It would boost trade and tourism across the region. It would help transform the Middle East into a global juggernaut….

Our two countries could cooperate on energy, water, agriculture, artificial intelligence, and many, many other fields. Such a peace, I am sure, would be a true pivot of history. It would usher in a historic reconciliation between the Arab world and Israel, between Islam and Judaism, between Mecca and Jerusalem….

Such a peace would be the foundation for an even broader Abrahamic alliance, and that alliance would include the United States, Israel’s current Arab peace partners, Saudi Arabia, and others who choose the blessing of peace…. I believe this vision can materialize much sooner than people think. And as the Prime Minister of Israel, I will do everything in my power to make it happen. This is an opportunity that we and the world should not let go by. Full text of Netanyahu’s UN speech, Times of Israel

Pax Israel: The entire Middle East and millions of subjugated Arabs languishing permanently under the Israeli boot-heel.

This is the Zionist dream in a nutshell; a peaceful, prosperous region in which the dominant power, Israel, sits at the center of a critical economic corridor that links the production capability and gas reserves of the East with the technology and bustling markets of the West. Netanyahu is expounding on the geopolitical strategy that will be implemented to compete with China’s massive Belt and Road infrastructure project, the only difference being that Tel Aviv will be calling the shots, not Washington. Surprised?

You shouldn’t be.

But what about the United States? What will happen if the Biden administration recklessly backs Israel and finds itself in a direct confrontation with Iran? How will that turn out? This is a long excerpt from an illuminating article by Kit Klarenberg titled Collapsing Empire: Iran Throws Down Gauntlet. It helps to answer that critical question:

… the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), a powerful … Zionist lobby …. laid out in forensic detail how the Empire will be… at grave disadvantage, in all-out hot war with Iran.

Titled U.S. Bases in the Middle East: Overcoming the Tyranny of Geography, …

the “most important” conclusion drawn is that Washington’s “current basing array detracts from our ability to deter Iran and fight them effectively in a high-intensity scenario…. As such, JINSA notes, “a theater-level war with Iran would be a war of missiles and drones,” and Tehran’s April 13th attack on Israel was a “comprehensive demonstration of Iranian operational design.”

… The most pressing and “obvious” takeout was, “for the defenders of the Gulf, it will be a war of strike aircraft, tankers, and air and missile defense…and here is the problem”:

“These aircraft are largely based at locations along the southern coast of the Arabian Gulf…an artifact of planning against Russian incursions in the 1970s, and the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns of the early decades of this century. They are close to Iran, which means they have a short trip to the fight…but that is also their great vulnerability. They are so close to Iran that it takes but five minutes or less for missiles launched from Iran to reach their bases.”…

Most damagingly of all:

“These bases are all defended by Patriot and other defensive systems. Unfortunately, at such close range to Iran, the ability of the attacker to mass fires [sic] and overwhelm the defense is very real.”…

In closing his roadmap to Tehran’s victory, McKenzie bitterly laments, “it is hard to escape the conclusion that our current basing structure is poorly postured for the most likely fight that will emerge.” The Empire “will not be able to maintain these bases in a full-throated conflict, because they will be rendered unusable by sustained Iranian attack.” Imperial overreach in West Asia has now fallen victim to “the simple tyranny of geography.”….

“The Iranians can see this problem just as clearly as we do, and that is one of the reasons why they have created their large and highly capable missile and drone force.”..

The question of whether the battlefield primacy of the Resistance in West Asia will finally be comprehended by their adversaries, in light of October 1st, remains an open one. As Russian military strategist Igor Korotchenko once observed, “this Anglo-Saxon breed understands nothing but force.” Collapsing Empire: Iran Throws Down Gauntlet, Kit Klarenberg, Global Delinquents

Cakewalk??

Massacre is more like it.

If the Biden administration decides to assist Israel in a war against Iran, the US will see many of its military bases razed to the ground, many of its warships sunk or disabled, and most of the region’s oil platforms ‘vanished’ in a ball of fire. This isn’t a dispute that can be resolved through force of arms, and any attempt to do so will trigger a sharp decline in US power and influence in the region and around the world. It’s no overstatement to say that America’s future hangs in the balance. The question is whether Team Biden will pull back from the cliff-edge or not.

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Source: TUR

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on The Unz Review.

Michael Whitney is a renowned geopolitical and social analyst based in Washington State. He initiated his career as an independent citizen-journalist in 2002 with a commitment to honest journalism, social justice and World peace.

He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).  

Featured image source

In the video below, Dr. William Makis talked about a traumatic rise in cancer in countries like the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK, since 2021. This sudden rise in cancer and cancer deaths is caused by the aggressive roll-out of mRNA COVID vaccines in 2021.

Click the image below to watch the video or click here.

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Click here to watch the video

Presentation slides:

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.  

Price: $11.50 FREE COPY! Click here (docsend) and download.

You may also access the online version of the e-Book by clicking here.

We encourage you to support the eBook project by making a donation through Global Research’s DonorBox “Worldwide Corona Crisis” Campaign Page. 

Everyone interested in where we are going in this dystopian civilization and ever-more tyrannical world, must see this extraordinary interview with David Icke by Kla.TV.

It can, and hopefully does, bring a larger awakening to the people around the globe.

David Icke talks about the corralling of the world population into ever smaller spaces under the pretext of “climate change” that requires a “net-zero” CO2 world, no travel, no industry, promoting the “15-minute cities”. It is absurd. 

“Zero-Net” – by 2050 – is propagated by the globalists as a must for humanity’s and Mother Earth’s survival. It will not happen. Humanity will survive. 

And all this while they – the self-declared masters of the universe – namely the financial establishment know very well that CO2 is a life essential gas; without which there would be no life, no plants, no food, no economic development — no-nothing.

But the believers in authority follow the masters’ orders and practically commit suicide by following and obeying a lie, attempting the reduction to zero of CO2. 

David explains how world events are connected. With a little research and a clear-thinking head, you will find that all major geopolitical, socioeconomic events are not just haphazardly occurring side by side or in certain sequences, they are all linked up throughout the world. So, connecting the dots, you will see that we are living in a well-orchestrated web, where all makes sense – for those who are in command of the web — and to the detriment of the vast bulk of populations.

There is a tiny-tiny elite behind the web, pretending to have all the power, only because we believe all the lies from our government and institutional so-called authorities, dictated to them by this elite.

We have been taught in school to trust in authority and to obey authorities. It is a difficult axiom to break. 

The constant drill of the mainstream media assures a steady drop-by-drop indoctrination of lies becoming the truth. 

David Icke also describes how true non-mainstream media some 20 years ago, gradually was converted into “mainstream alternative” media, also called “controlled opposition” by the big media outlets, Murdoch, Disney, Warner Brothers and more.

As a new, controlled alternative media, he mentioned Tucker Carlson, among others. They are promoted and funded by Big Tech and Big Finance, but cannot trespass their given boundaries. 

The TRUE non-mainstream and independent remaining journalists and news sites are cornered, cyber-attacked and censored. That is how a small group of financial and big-tech oligarchs takes ever more control of society.

We MUST break out from this giant net or worldwide matrix controlled by a tiny elite that controls technology, finance, and decides over our heath or death, through WHO, supported by Big Pharma. Exiting the matrix is our condition to become free and sovereign citizens again.

And, yes, we can —by becoming self-asserted and independent thinkers, joining up with others and together breaking the elite-bullies “rules-based order” back to legality, international, national and local laws, respecting one another, and respecting the rights of people, indigenous, westerners, easterners, Africans and Middle Easterners and whatever ethnicity you may find. 

We are all the same. 

Our souls are not bound to a pyramid order of hierarchy.

They are equal.

David’s motto is: “Know the goal, then you will see the way leading there!” In the interview he shows that even free educators are in danger of supporting the development of a centrally dictated global dystopia. 

David Icke, the Dot-Connector, starts the interview by saying,

“If you look at the world as a series of random events, random happenings, it makes no sense. Why do they do that? Why do they do it this way? Why don’t they do it that way? It would be much better if they did it that way. And so on and so forth. Why does this happen? But when you connect the dots, you connect these events, you find that they do all connect. It suddenly makes all sense. And, you know, people say sometimes about me: “You see a conspiracy everywhere.””  

“No, I do not. I see one conspiracy to turn the world into a global dystopia. And that one conspiracy has endless facets and forms. But it is actually one conspiracy. It is one gigantic web. And that is literally true in terms of what I call the Global Cult, which is a global network of secret societies which are operating outside or in the shadows from those that appear to be running the world.”

David’s clear-sight points to a key element that may lead us into a dystopian world. Our societal behavior is based on our perception. The perceptions are based on the messages we receive. The Global Cult that pretends to control us, formulates the messages as lies, to make us believe there is a problem, the people react, then they can present, or impose us a solution.

He calls it simply, “Problems, Reaction, Solution”.  

David uses the recent example of covid. He says,

“People caved in to the COVID hoax because they perceived there was a dangerous virus. And they perceived, that the fake vaccine, not a vaccine under previous criteria, was a way to save them from the dangerous virus.

That perception led to people submitting to what were fascistic impositions all over the world. So, if you want to control behavior, you must control perception. And if you control behavior, well, collectively, that is what we call human society. And then you ask the question, where do perceptions come from? Well, they come from information received”.  

And information is controlled and manipulated to serve the purpose of the controllers.

David Icke’s presentation is brilliant. It is a MUST-SEE for every truth seeker. 

See the full video here or by clicking the image below.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020).

Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.

The War on Gaza: The Case for the Only Durable Solution: One Democratic State from the River to the Sea. Amir Nour

By Amir Nour, October 07, 2024

If the two-state solution proposed by the Oslo Accords has failed and seems more remote than ever, if not definitely dead 30 years on, isn’t it about time to consider alternatives to the prevailing untenable status quo, or even worse, to endless war?

New German Study: All COVID mRNA Vaccinated Children Are at Increased Risk of Cancer

By Dr. William Makis, October 07, 2024

I told the 18,000 strong live audience that all children who had COVID-19 mRNA vaccines would have an increased risk of cancer for the rest of their lives. This is the first study that provides scientific evidence to back up that statement.

The Importance of Hezbollah to Lebanon and Beyond

By Mark Taliano and Basma Qaddour, October 07, 2024

Opinions on Nasrallah were often divided. He enjoyed wide support among many Lebanese, especially Shia and those in south Lebanon. Much of this relates to how Hezbollah has become a major regional military force, driving Israel out of south Lebanon. Supporters say Lebanon’s south has been able to enjoy two decades of unprecedented peace.

AI and The Mind-Controlled Road to Hell. “A true mental and spiritual dynamic empowers us to face the reality of the world courageously”

By Julian Rose, October 07, 2024

The proponents of a transhuman AI future are a clinically insane, anti-life demonic cult. With this at the forefront of your mind, ask yourself: do I still want to do business with them? If the answer is ‘No’, then take immediate steps to adopt a lifestyle as diametrically opposite as possible from the one that makes one dependent on both the tools and mindset of their trade.

The Wars of Today: Space-Age Perils, Militarizing Space, “More Than 2.000 Satellites in Orbit”. Fraudulent Pretexts.

By Michael Welch, Bruce Gagnon, and Richard Gage, October 05, 2024

Today, more than 2,000 satellites are in orbit, some of which help coordinate military activities on the planet. There are also sophisticated missile defense systems, space communications, command and control war fighting functions, and other technological novelties that aid in the cause of ensuring “victory at all costs!”

Will Israel Pull Off an “October Surprise” During the Next Month? “A Dirty Trick Before the Elections”? Philip Giraldi

By Philip Giraldi, October 05, 2024

The original October Surprise took place in 1980, when Ronald Reagan’s campaign manager William Caseyconspired with several senior CIA officers in Europe to convince the Iranian government to delay the release of the American Embassy hostages until after the November election against Jimmy Carter.

Is the Trap Set? Did Israel Accomplish Its Goal to Drag the US Military Into Another Middle East War?

By Timothy Alexander Guzman, October 05, 2024

The question to whether the Biden regime will keep the US military out of the conflict between Israel and Iran has been answered.  High-ranking officials in Washington in collaboration with Tel Aviv have been setting the stage to prepare for an all-out war against Iran and its allies despite the impact it will have on a global scale.

Os sentimentos de hostilidade entre polacos e ucranianos continuam a aumentar. Cada vez mais autoridades polacas fazem declarações criticando a atitude dos ucranianos em relação a Varsóvia. Apesar do seu forte apoio a Kiev, a Polônia tem sofrido numerosos problemas com os ucranianos devido à mentalidade supremacista que se tornou hegemônica no país desde a ascensão do regime neonazista em 2014.

O ministro da Defesa polaco, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, disse numa entrevista que os ucranianos são “ingratos” e não tratam a Polônia adequadamente, apesar dos esforços de Varsóvia para os apoiar durante o conflito. Em declarações aos jornalistas polacos, sublinhou que o seu país foi o primeiro a enviar assistência direta ao regime de Kiev, acrescentando que as autoridades ucranianas “não lembram desta ajuda”.

As palavras do ministro surgem em meio a uma onda de tensões entre a Polônia e a Ucrânia. Embora ambos os países mantenham a cooperação militar, vários problemas surgiram em outras áreas das relações bilaterais. Muitos destes problemas devem-se precisamente à posição ideológica da Ucrânia de reabilitar abertamente o nazismo. Com a sua ideologia fascista, Kiev recusou-se a admitir que os nacionalistas ucranianos cometeram crimes de guerra no passado – quando muitos deles se juntaram às unidades estrangeiras das SS alemãs. Isto perturbou Varsóvia, uma vez que muitos cidadãos polacos foram mortos por nacionalistas ucranianos.

Kosiniak-Kamysz tem sido um dos críticos mais veementes desta posição ucraniana. Ele afirma que o seu país poderia até bloquear a candidatura da Ucrânia à UE como retaliação pela recusa da Ucrânia em exumar os corpos de cidadãos polacos massacrados por nacionalistas ucranianos na Segunda Guerra Mundial. Ao contrário de outros políticos e figuras públicas polacas, o ministro da Defesa parece ter uma atitude rígida quando se trata de pressionar a Ucrânia a assumir a sua responsabilidade histórica de uma vez por todas.

Entre 40.000 e 100.000 polacos étnicos foram mortos pelo Exército Insurgente Ucraniano (UPA) nas regiões da Volínia e da Galiza Oriental entre 1943 e 1945. A milícia ucraniana operou ilegalmente na região ao serviço dos invasores alemães. Defendendo a justiça histórica, muitos políticos polacos apelaram à exumação dos corpos em território ucraniano, mas Kiev recusou-se a fazê-lo, embora tal operação não prejudicasse o esforço de guerra no leste do país.

“Do ponto de vista polaco, é difícil compreender porque é que a Alemanha pode realizar a exumação de soldados caídos da Wehrmacht em território ucraniano, mas a Polônia não pode exumar os corpos dos seus próprios cidadãos. Isto não afeta de forma alguma a posição do exército ucraniano. na linha de frente”, Daniel Szeligowski”, chefe do Programa para a Europa Oriental e analista-chefe sobre a Ucrânia no Instituto Polonês de Assuntos Internacionais, comentou recentemente sobre o assunto.

Até estrangeiros têm-se mobilizado para exigir que a Ucrânia exuma os corpos. Recentemente, membros alemães do Parlamento Europeu emitiram uma declaração exigindo que Kiev realizasse a exumação e assumisse a responsabilidade pelos crimes cometidos por militantes ucranianos durante a guerra.

“[Nós] relembramos os massacres de poloneses em Volyn e no leste da Galiza de 1943 a 1945, que foram cometidos por membros do Exército Insurgente Ucraniano (UPA) (…) [e] enfatizamos a obrigação da Ucrânia de pedir desculpas por essas atrocidades, permitir a exumação de todas as vítimas e proibir a veneração das personalidades históricas responsáveis ​​pelos massacres”, disseram os políticos alemães.

Na verdade, não é surpreendente que a Ucrânia se recuse a realizar a exumação. Embora a Ucrânia e a Polônia sejam fortes aliadas, Kiev ainda defende a ideologia fascista. O neonazismo é um dos principais pilares ideológicos da Ucrânia pós-2014. Tal como Kiev se orgulha do fato de os seus “heróis históricos” (que eram militantes nazistas) terem matado russos e judeus, também se orgulha do massacre cometido contra os polacos, uma vez que os supremacistas étnicos ucranianos rejeitam todas as outras pessoas como “inferiores”.

No mesmo sentido, não parece lógico exigir “gratidão aos ucranianos”, uma vez que Kiev vê todos os países da OTAN como “obrigados” a apoiá-la na guerra. Uma vez que a Ucrânia se envolveu no confronto com a Rússia para proteger os interesses ocidentais, o regime exige que lhe seja dada uma ajuda infinita, mantendo constantemente o esforço de guerra para fazê-la sobreviver à pressão militar russa. É por isso que nunca haverá qualquer sinal de “gratidão” pela ajuda da Polônia ou de qualquer outro país.

Varsóvia precisa de compreender que o problema não está na própria Ucrânia, mas na OTAN, que criou toda esta situação apenas para iniciar uma guerra por procuração com a Rússia. A Polônia deveria rever a sua própria política externa face a este cenário, mas infelizmente o neonazismo e a russofobia também são fortes na sociedade polaca – que está gradualmente a passar por um processo de “ucranianização”.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida

Artigo em inglês : Ukrainian neo-Nazi ideology causing problems in Kiev-Warsaw cooperation, 3 de Outubro de 2024.

Imagem : InfoBrics

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Lucas Leiroz, membro da Associação de Jornalistas do BRICS, pesquisador do Centro de Estudos Geoestratégicos, especialista militar.

Você pode seguir Lucas Leiroz em: https://t.me/lucasleiroz e https://x.com/leiroz_lucas

Hezbollah is part of a larger Axis of Resistance, countering U.S. and Israeli influence throughout the Middle East.

On Saturday (Sep. 28, 2024), the Lebanese national resistance [Hezbollah] announced the martyrdom of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh on Friday.

The announcements of Nasrallah’s martyrdom has been followed by a lot of remarks made by Arab and foreign leaders, politicians who condemned the assassination, offered their condolences to martyr’s family and praised the martyr in many words.

According to an article published by the Middle East Eye on Sep. 27, 2024 and updated on Sep. 30, 2024, Hezbollah grew from a local armed movement to the largest political party in Lebanon’s recent history, under Nasrallah, whose surname translated as “victory through God”.

The article entitled “Who was Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah – and why did he matter?” indicated that in 2018 Lebanese parliamentary elections, Hezbollah won more than 340,000 preferential votes, the most for any party in Lebanon since independence.

Opinions on Nasrallah were often divided. He enjoyed wide support among many Lebanese, especially Shia and those in south Lebanon.

Much of this relates to how Hezbollah has become a major regional military force, driving Israel out of south Lebanon. Supporters say Lebanon’s south has been able to enjoy two decades of unprecedented peace.

Many respected his humble lifestyle, in contrast to many Lebanese leaders and politicians; Nasrallah divulged in one interview that his monthly salary was not more than $1,300.

Nor had he expressed fear as to how he is regarded.

“I don’t wait for history to absolve me…what matters is that God absolves us and we satisfy him,” Nasrallah said in an interview in 2016.

Image: Dr. Marcus Papadopoulos

In this context, British historian, analyst and author, Dr. Marcus Papadopoulos, told the Iranian News Agency (IRNA) that Israel’s assassination of Nasrallah will yield no positive results for “Israel”.

“Indeed, that act, which constitutes a severe violation of international law, will serve only to strengthen what is known as “ the Resistance Movement in West Asia”. Furthermore, the murder of a politician whose party forms part of the Lebanese government will also convince people across the world of the dangers of the “Israeli State”, while augmenting the already formed view of millions of people in all four corners of the world that the Israelis are one of the main sources of global instability,” the analyst clarified.

He underscored that for all intents and purposes, the military arm of Hezbollah is a conventional fighting force- and a formidable one at that.

“Hezbollah is very well trained, very well equipped, very well motivated, and very well led, and is battle hardened, having gained invaluable experience in fighting both Al-Qaeda and ISIS during the war in Syria(compare and contrast that with Israel, who aided and abetted both of those putrid terrorist organizations in their savage war against the Syrian people). In addition to that, the command and structure of Hezbollah’s military arm is extremely robust and proficient, meaning that no amount of Israeli attacks can decapitate it. Then there is the reality that Hezbollah, as a whole, is very popular amongst Lebanese, including Christians , hence the flow of support, and recruits, to the “Party of God” will not be disrupted by the murder of Nasrallah, indeed, the Israeli act will increase this flow,” Papadopoulos added.

He believes that Israel won’t launch a major invasion of Lebanon again because the Israeli military is bogged down in Gaza and it would be very risky for “Israel” to fight a war on two fronts- not just military but economically, too. And then there is the matter of the militarily arm of Hezbollah.

“I do not believe that the Israeli military can defeat Hezbollah in a ground fight. If the Israelis could not defeat Hezbollah in 2006, even with their formidable air power, then they most certainly can not do so today, given that the overall capacity for war of Hezbollah has grown enormously since 2006,” Papadopoulos said.

Image: Dr. Marwa Osman

For her part, the Lebanese journalist Dr. Marwa Osman said in a reply to my question on the importance of Hezbollah to Lebanon and beyond that this issue requires understanding that the group is not just a political party or a military force. Hezbollah is a resistance movement that emerged out of necessity to defend Lebanon against Israeli aggression, especially during the occupation of South Lebanon. Today, Hezbollah has evolved into a multifaceted organization that encompasses political, social, and military dimensions, playing a pivotal role in safeguarding the country’s sovereignty.

“In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s presence has been crucial for maintaining a deterrence balance with Israel. After the 2006 war, this balance has prevented major Israeli invasions and assaults on Lebanese soil. Hezbollah’s military capabilities, intelligence assets, and disciplined structure are a key deterrent force that the Lebanese state itself lacks,” she added.

As for Hezbollah’s role beyond Lebanon’s borders, Osman clarified that Hezbollah has become a significant regional player. Its support for resistance groups across Palestine and its involvement in the global war against Syria demonstrate that Hezbollah’s role is much broader. This is not about ‘interfering’ but rather about confronting a common threat. The group sees itself as part of a larger Axis of Resistance, countering U.S. and Israeli influence throughout the Middle East.

“Now, after Israel’s assassination of top Hezbollah leaders and the continued genocide in Gaza, Hezbollah had no choice but to respond. The opening of a support front in Lebanon for Gaza isn’t merely a show of solidarity, it’s a strategic response. The group is making it clear that it will not allow Israel to annihilate the resistance in Gaza without consequences. By creating a northern front, Hezbollah is stretching Israel’s military resources, forcing it to fight on multiple fronts, and ultimately protecting the Palestinian cause,” she said.

Osman concluded by saying:

“Hezbollah’s significance goes beyond its military strength. It represents an ideological stance against occupation and domination, making it an indispensable part of the resistance framework in the region. If Hezbollah did not exist, Israel’s aggression would go unchecked, not only in Lebanon but across the Middle East. This is why the resistance group remains a key actor in shaping the geopolitical dynamics of the region, and its role will only grow stronger as long as there are people willing to stand up to Israeli and Western hegemony.”

Contrary to fabricated Western perceptions, Hezbollah is on the “right side of history” in terms of international law and morality.

It is Hezbollah that has helped Syria and its allies defeat Western and Zionist-supported ISIS and al Qaeda in Syria.

Hezbollah has helped to protect and defend Syrian Christian communities, including Maaloula, from Western-supported sectarian terrorists.

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Hezbollah is protecting Lebanon from a criminal Zionist land invasion, and it is Hezbollah that is resisting the Western-supported Zionist genocide of Palestinians at this moment.

Hezbollah and the Resistance occupy the moral and legal high ground against Washington’s terrorist-supporting colonialism that continues to ravage, plunder, and destroy globally beneath war lies of humanitarianism and other false pretexts.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Mark Taliano is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) and the author of Voices from Syria, Global Research Publishers, 2017. He writes on his website where this article was originally published.

Basma Qaddour is a Syrian journalist and co-authour of Voices from Syria, Second Edition.

Order Mark Taliano’s Book “Voices from Syria” directly from Global Research.

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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned the Federal Emergency Management Agency does not have enough funding to cover the rest of the hurricane season.

The big picture: Hurricane Helene carved a path of destruction through six southeastern states, leaving unprecedented devastation totaling tens of billions of dollars across communities, several of which officials said Thursday will need a full rebuild.

• At least 215 people were killed due to the storm, which brought catastrophic flooding to coastal and inland towns, the AP reported.
• The federal relief agency is extending aid in the form of food, water, generators and monetary assistance, among other resources.
• So far, officials said Thursday, FEMA has provided over $20 million in individual assistance.

What he’s saying: “We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have,” Mayorkas told reporters on Wednesday, per multiple reports.

• He continued: “We are expecting another hurricane hitting — we do not have the funds, FEMA does not have the funds, to make it through the season.”

The latest: Asked about Mayorkas’ anticipated funding shortfall Thursday, FEMA Director of Individual Assistance Frank Matranga said “money is an important factor,” but that “the focus remains” on assisting individual communities.

• “We know that the needs right now are big and still not fully stabilized,” he added, saying the agency will continue to communicate its funding status to Congress.

At the peak of Hurricane Helene, emergency officials said Thursday, 4.6 million customers were without power.

• That number is down to around 1 million across the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, officials told reporters.
• But while restoration efforts are underway, some hard-hit areas were left decimated by Helene’s path, meaning a full energy system — or entire community — rebuild may be necessary before residents can see power restored.

What they’re saying: “Many are being targeted to be restored by the end of this week,” Ken Buell, the CESER deputy director for Response and Restoration at the Department of Energy. “But then again, there are some areas that were so hard hit that those estimated times for restoration … could be fairly extended.”

The bottom line: This is not the first time the government’s disaster relief fund has faced monetary perils as the climate crisis deepens.

• Last year, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told a House committee that the agency has been strained as the number of costly natural disasters soars.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image: FEMA vehicle provides communications support after a major hurricane. (Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)

On October 1, Iran fired 180 missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, an Iranian General, and Hassan Nasrallah. According to the Jerusalem Post today, the Israel Defense Force reported that Israeli army bases were damaged in the attack. The region has now inched closer to a full-scale war not seen in the last 50 years.

There are options for Iran should Israel decide to strike back in retaliation.The Middle East may be facing two different possible scenarios following the Iranian attack on Israel.

The first possible scenario would envision the US and its European allies pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from taking steps that will plunge the region into a full-scale war. In pressuring Netanyahu, the various leaders would discuss the adverse effects on the global economy, such as the increased oil, gas, shipping, and supply chain costs. The global economy is facing recessions and inflations which would only be acerbated by a regional war.

In the US, the economy is such a sensitive topic that it has become the primary point of contention in the upcoming presidential election in November. The US economy cannot afford a regional war in the Middle East, and the US assets in the region would be vulnerable. In an all-out war, Iran and its allies would target US assets in the Arab Gulf. The US assets across the Middle East include oil, shipping, gas, banking, finance, stocks and real estate.

The biggest loser in a Middle East war might be the US. Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, and Iraq all have US military personnel and equipment. In a regional war, missiles would most likely target all the US army positions. The loss of American soldiers in a preventable Middle East war would be devastating to American families. In the second possible scenario, and my opinion more probable, Netanyahu would refuse to listen to the advice and pleadings of the US and its allies and instead decide to attack Iran, which would mark the opening of a regional war. Netanyahu knows that the US government, on behalf of the US taxpayer, will pay for any war Israel decides to embark upon.

So far, the US has sent billions in cash and weaponry to Israel to carry out their ongoing genocide in Gaza, and now they have opened a second front in Lebanon. Netanyahu, and his extremist coalition partners keeping him in power, have crossed all redlines and bulldozed through all barriers against the ‘Axis of Resistance’, that were in place following the 2006 war in Lebanon. That previous war lasted 33 days and Hezbollah won the match by preventing Israel from achieving their stated military goals.

Bombing Beirut, and assassinating Haniyeh in Tehran, and Nasrallah in Beirut marked the tipping point for Iran and precipitated the decision to attack Israel on October 1. Sky News has reported their Israeli sources have confirmed tens of Israeli soldiers have been killed or injured on October 2 as they attempted to enter into Lebanese territory in the south. Hezbollah fighters had laid booby traps which prevented the Israeli troops from advancing even one meter. Should Netanyahu decide to attack Iran, and the US participates in support of Israel, the Houthis of Yemen would begin their attack, as would the Iraqi Army divisions who fought ISIS in the past, along with Hamas and Hezbollah, and with Syria entering the conflict as well.

The actions taken by Iran and Hezbollah will draw new redlines in the Israeli-Middle East war.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on Times of India.

Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image source

It was a spectacular example of a non-event, alloyed by pure symbolism and cynicism.  Here was a British government offering – how generous of them – to return sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, whose residents had been brutally displaced between 1965 to 1973, to Mauritius.

In an October 3 joint statement between London and Port Louis, all but one of the Chagos Islands will be relinquished to Mauritian control. 

“Following two years of negotiation, this is a seminal moment in our relationship and a demonstration of our enduring commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes and the rule of law.”  Negotiations had “been conducted in a constructive and respectful manner, as equal sovereign states, on the basis of international law,” a point made so explicitly it had to be questioned.

Attention would have immediately shifted to the status of the largest island, Diego Garcia, where the US strategic military base crudely nicknamed the “Footprint for Freedom” is located.  “Under the terms of this treaty the United Kingdom will agree that Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia.”  Then comes the big, fat qualifier: both countries had agreed to ensure that the base, which played “a vital role in regional and global security” (read US global military dominance) would continue to operate unimpeded.  “For an initial period of 99 years, the United Kingdom will be authorised to exercise with respect to Diego Garcia the sovereign rights and authorities of Mauritius required to ensure the continued operation of the base well into the next century.”  To buy favour with Mauritius, Britain promises “a package of financial support”.

In 1965, the UK effectively bought off Mauritius regarding its hold over the Chagos Islands for the less than princely sum of £3 million.  Displacement of the 3,000 islanders to Mauritius and the Seychelles followed the bribery, a splendid example of British observance of peaceful resolution and the rule of law.  In 1966, the UK Permanent Under-Secretary remarked in a note of abundant nastiness that, “The object of the exercise was to get some rocks which will remain ours; there will be no indigenous population except seagulls who have not yet got a Committee (the Status of Women does not cover the rights of Birds).”

A hand scribbled comment on the same note also observed that, “along with the birds go some few Tarzans or Men Fridays” who had to be moved on.  The eviction of the locals became the prelude to the construction of the US military facility.

In its efforts to spoil and foil any claims for resettlement by the Chagossians, the British government could be inventive.  As humble servitors to the US occupants on Diego Garcia, the UK Foreign Office proposed turning the area around the archipelago into a Marine Protected Area (MPA).  Counterfeit environmentalism could be used in power’s favour.

In 2015, the Permanent Court of Arbitration found that the declaration of such an MPA in April 2010 was incompatible with Britain’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.  The declaration failed to acknowledge, for instance, undertakings made in 1965 that Mauritius held binding rights to fish in the waters around the archipelago and the eventual return of the islands to Mauritius once it had ceased being militarily useful.

In 2019 the International Court of Justice found that “the process of decolonization of Mauritius was not lawfully completed when that country acceded to independence in 1968, following the separation of the Chagos Archipelago.”  Britain was “under an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible.”  The UK Foreign Office, again showing how respectful it can be of international law when cornered, diminished the standing of the ICJ decision.  “This is an advisory opinion, not a judgment,” it concluded.

The UN General Assembly begged to differ, adopting a resolution that same year demanding the unconditional withdrawal of Britain’s colonial administration from the islands within six months.  The resolution recorded favourable 116 votes, with 56 abstentions.  Only six states opposed the measure, including such noisy paragons of the “rules-based order” as Australia, Israel and the United States.

The treaty, according to the joint statement, “will address the wrongs of the past and demonstrate the commitment of both parties to the welfare of Chagossians.”  It does nothing of the sort, limiting any resettlement program to the wishes of Mauritius while exempting Diego Garcia altogether from such arrangements.  In doing so, the agreement, states UK Foreign Minister British Lammy, will “strengthen our role in safeguarding global security” while also preventing “any possibility of the Indian Ocean being used as a dangerous illegal migration route to the UK.”

US President Joe Biden, however, has the most reason to delight in the outcome.  Washington retains its warmaking facility in the Indian Ocean on the pretext of demonstrating a “shared commitment to regional stability” while supposedly reaching “peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes”.

Coy, congratulatory assessments can even be found among the cognoscenti.  Peter Harris, for instance, makes an unpardonably inaccurate assessment in The Conversation: “The deal announced is a good one – a rare ‘win-win-win-win’ moment in international relations, with all the relevant actors able to claim a meaningful victory: Britain, Mauritius, the US, and the Chagossians.”

The last group can claim, accurately, to have again been treated as ongoing victims of callous colonial rule, despite the hopeful optimism of such individuals as Isabelle Charlot, chair of the Chagos Islander Movement.  The advocacy group, Chagossian Voices, deplored “the exclusion of the Chagossian community from the negotiations which have produced this statement of intent concerning the sovereignty of our homeland.”

Raymonde Desiree, who was 25 when evicted from the islands made her intentions clear.  “Going back to the Chagos Islands under Mauritian rule, that’s not going to happen.”  Now a resident in the West Sussex town of Crawley, which hosts a large Chagossian diaspora, she makes the emphatic point: “We were not consulted… They should have given us the right of self-determination.”  That, it would seem, was never going to happen.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He currently lectures at RMIT University.  He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). Email: [email protected] 

Featured image: Aerial photograph of Diego Garcia (From the Public Domain)

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but rather the achievement by popular struggle of … the defeat of global systems of oppression that include colonialism, imperialism, patriarchy, and white supremacy.” (BAP Principle of Unity)

Today, October 7, 2024, the world commemorates – some in horror, others in celebration – a full year of a genocidal war, prosecuted in real time in occupied Palestine. In spite of the commonly accepted lie that the Al Aqsa Flood on October 7 was the beginning, this “war” actually began on November 29, 1947, with the passing of the UN resolution that led to the creation of the Israeli settler colonial state. For the next seventy-six years, with the backing of Western governments the state of Israel would lead a war of conquest, ethnically cleansing and massacring hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, displacing and maiming millions, and establishing an apartheid state. Therefore, the Black Alliance for Peace views the Al-Aqsa Flood as a legitimate resistance operation by the besieged Palestinians – the only party with an internationally recognized right of resistance. We support Palestinian resistance against the violent military domination by white supremacist imperialism and colonialism that began, first in the form of British colonialism, and continues in the form of zionism.

In response to the prison breakout of October 7, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IDF) unleashed a horrific wave of state terror with indiscriminate bombing, targeting of civilian infrastructure, rape, torture and starvation with an obvious and specific target – the non-combatant civilian population. The result – a second Nakba – another catastrophe for the Palestinian people, with tens of thousands slaughtered with impunity. This systematic state terrorism has now engulfed Lebanon, with Israel replicating its depraved, anti-human tactics from Gaza. It began with an attempt to terrorize the resistance group Hezbollah including the killing of the group’s revered leader and anti-colonial fighter, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah. This terrorism has continued with the indiscriminate massacre of civilians in an attempt to force the Lebanese people into submission.

Over the last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) along with all the other Western-run international bodies that claim to defend human rights have proven themselves complicit, acting as mere puppets of U.S. imperialism. As global protests erupt in fury, Israel continues its slaughter, understanding clearly that the U.S. settler-state and the white West will continue to provide it protection.  

What the last year has reconfirmed for BAP is that the violence we have witnessed is part of a global system of white supremacism dependent on unrestrained state terror in order to continue the extraction of value from still colonized and oppressed non-European peoples, working classes and nations.  The militarization of police, from the Israeli Occupation Force in Gaza to the deadly exchange programs in domestic colonized communities, is the extension of fascist settler colonialism. If we understand the U.S. as a settler project, then its global expansion can only result in one thing – replicating systems of dominance and repression everywhere. Here, we must also recognize that the attacks on Gaza and Lebanon mirror the looming assault on Haiti. Both represent the deep-rooted racist violence that has always been at the core of the Pan-European colonial/capitalist white supremacist patriarchy since this system of oppression emerged in 1492.

Speaking out against this system of global white supremacy, whether here or abroad, is met with criminalization. From resisting austerity and Cop Cities in the U.S., to the prosecution of the “Uhuru 3” as agents of Russia, to curtailing speech and protest in hopes of dismantling the ‘student intifada’ across campuses, to the Palestinians and Lebanese fighting occupation, the message is clear: dissent is dangerous. But we must stand firm in truth. The real terrorists are those upholding the illegal zionist settler-colonial apartheid regime. The Black Alliance for Peace condemns Israel’s decades-long barbarism and fully supports the Palestinian people’s right to resist occupation. Decolonization and self-determination are not simply demands – they are central to the realization of human rights. And since there is no real justice for Palestinians in Western-controlled international laws, we stand by their right to fight for their humanity. Collective resistance is a central principle of the People(s)-Centered Human Rights framework that guides BAP’s approach to the human rights issue.

Fifty years into the future, the zionist massacre of Palestinians and invasion of Lebanon will be widely recognized for the war crimes that they are. But in the same way that it takes little courage today to oppose the segregation of the 1950s, the time to stand up against genocide and colonialism is right now – today. And we do not have the luxury of waiting for history to vindicate the Palestinians’ just struggle; we must act to help end the zionists’ ever-expanding genocidal war now, once and for all.

Our struggles are intertwined: we are bound by the shared reality of living under white supremacist, settler-colonial states. When one of us suffers, we all do. And together, we will resist. Long live the resistance. Glory to the martyrs. Palestine will be free – and so will the world once our peoples unite to defeat the U.S./EU/NATO Axis Domination.

Resist the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination

Defeat the war in the U.S. being waged against the resisters

Smash the Duopoly

No Compromise! No Retreat!

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image: Families have been forced to moved repeatedly in Gaza. UN United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The assassination in Beirut of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah would be a new bait for Israel to involve Iran in the escalation of war and start its destabilization with help from the US.

But following its proverbial prudence, Iran has finally responded with a targeted attack on Israeli military bases using more than 200 ballistic missiles. However, the US and Israel seek to start a new regional war in the Middle East with the dual objective of drying up China’s energy sources and subsequently, designing the cartography of the new Greater East. So Israel and the US would be considering launching a “serious and imminent” response to the Iranian attack.

Israel could use the Jericho III missile as it is the highest operating range of all Israel and the only one with the ability to reach Iran because it is estimated that it could reach 6,500km and would be compatible with nearly half a hundred nuclear warheads.

Does Israel Consider Using a Thermonuclear Bomb?

Gravity bombs are bombs that are dropped from nuclear-capable aircraft and probes and weapons of mass destruction because, unlike neutron bombs, they cannot be used without indiscriminately killing civilians and destroying critical infrastructure. Israel, after acquiring the last 25 units from the United States in June for a cost of 3,000 million euros, would currently have an estimated fleet of 75 F-35, divided into three squads ready and equipped to transport the B61-12 bomb.

The US would also have provided Israel with B61-13 bombs with more capability against specially reinforced facilities such as control centers and underground strategic commands, as well as against military targets occupying large areas, Parchin, the centre of the Iranian military nuclear programme, the experimental reactors at Tehran, Bonab and Ramsar, and large installations such as Bushehr, Natanz, Isfahan and Ferdows.

Israel would also use the Jericho III missile as it is the highest-operating range of all Israel and the only one capable of reaching Iran, as it is estimated that it could reach 6,500km and would be compatible with nearly half a hundred nuclear warheads. According to Pentagon estimates, although the Iranian defenses would rely on Russian S-400 missile batteries, a combined attack of drones, missiles and aircraft could strike targets that include communications hub, energy infrastructure, military installations, airports and nuclear silos with the professed goal of leaving the Iranian army without a response capability.

However, the naval forces of the Revolutionary Guard, operating in the Persian Gulf could overcome the defenses of the US Fifth Fleet if they were launched as a swarm and to sow mines in the Strait of Hormuz with the aim of interrupting the flow of 20% of world oil exports, what could re-enact the 1973 Oil Crisis and the economic ruin of western countries as well as Latin America and Asia, leaving China and India gravitating in the Russian energy dependence.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Germán Gorraiz López is a political analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Featured image source

Below is an excerpt from an article on The People’s Voice:

A German peer-reviewed study has found that children who received two doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine had immune system damage one year after vaccination, and an elevated risk of developing cancer during their lifetime.

A team of German researchers, led by Dr. Robin Kobbe from the Institute for Infection Research and Vaccine Development at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, analyzed blood samples from 14 healthy children aged 5-11.

The study tracked their immune responses from the day they received the first dose of Pfizer’s vaccine, one month after, and again one year following the second dose.

One year post-vaccination, researchers observed elevated levels of IgG4 antibodies in the children’s blood, indicating a shift in their immune response, and elevating the risk of cancer in these vaccinated children.

While prior studies have found elevated levels of IgG4 in adults after repeated mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, Kobbe and his co-authors said their investigation is the first showing it happens in children, too.

The researchers wrote in their report published July 30 in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, “IgG4 responses should gain more attention in health and disease, especially in the context of mRNA vaccination.”

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Delayed Induction of Noninflammatory SARS-CoV-2 Spike-Specific IgG4 Antibodies Detected 1 Year After BNT162b2 Vaccination in Children

Abstract

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.  

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The proponents of a transhuman AI future are a clinically insane, anti-life demonic cult. With this at the forefront of your mind, ask yourself: do I still want to do business with them?

If the answer is ‘No’, then take immediate steps to adopt a lifestyle as diametrically opposite as possible from the one that makes one dependent on both the tools and mindset of their trade.

I stress ‘mindset’ because the state of mind behind the push to turn human beings into biocomputers is not sufficiently rejected by the majority of those using the cult’s tech. 

There is almost no concentrated thought being applied to this already advanced enslavement process, therefore those not questioning their attachment to the EMF (Electro Magnetic Frequency) digital tech, lack the ability to resist the insidious capture of their best energies.

One can only put an end to something by first recognising its existence and one’s reliance on it. This is the first phase of release from slavery and in taking control of one’s destiny.

So, what could such a diametrically opposite lifestyle to one of toxic IT dependency be?

Firstly, a re-earthing. A rational process that taps into common sense and frees one from blind acceptance of an ever more dominant digital control system.

This could, in practice, take many different forms and go in many different directions, but all would be about getting out of jail while one still can. 

ELECTRICITY is being pushed centre stage as the key tool for both ‘convenience’ and 24/7 invasive surveillance and control.

Consider the fact that all commercial alternative energy sources are about generating electricity. Electricity for public transportation, private cars, cooking, heat pumps (home heating), metering systems, telephone chargers, just about all communication tools, a plethora of household items, street lights, air conditioning, ventilation systems…the list goes on and on.

So, why is the Net Zero by 2045 scam so determined to replace carbon fuel sources with non carbon based electric energy?  Anything to do with climate amelioration issues? 

No, of course not. 

Electricity is the energy choice most obviously connected with the ability to control. The perfect medium for a fully centralised energy surveillance grid. 

Now, consider the ever increasing percentage of communication systems and household items that are moving, or have already moved, from cable-based distribution to WiFi. 

Around 90% of all domestic utility gismos (within the post industrial Northern World) are likely to be WiFi-based within the next four to five years. Not because we want that, most of us don’t – but because our protagonists see wireless as the most seamless medium for our ‘management’.

Add to this terrestrial monopolisation process, ‘the cloud’ EMF-powered grid, designed to act as a global surveillance, communications and zapping weapon – all in one. Operating out of tens of thousands of satellites – a significant number of which has already been launched into low orbit by Elon Musk’s Starlink program and other related enterprises.

The ‘hive mind internet of everything’ is planned to operate out of this grid of low vibrating EMF microwaves linked-up to 5G towers – and all combining to cover the entire earth’s surface.

Whatever WiFi-receiving systems one has will be both a recipient of – and a transmitter into – this highly toxic ‘smart cloud’. 

Furthermore, metallic nanoparticles found to be present in chemtrail operations and ‘vaccination’ ingredients, will render human beings energetic conductors/receptors of electronic pulses. An open target of mind control extending into physical body organ manipulation and gene-modification.

However, the order of importance in taking steps to guard against becoming an open target of such destruction, must start with WiFi-based electronic items that are carried on one’s body on a daily basis.

This is a massive stumbling block for almost all current holders of mobile phones, the great majority of whom cannot even imagine detaching themselves from these ultimate tools of control. 

Mobiles are called ‘cell’ phones in America – a very apt description.

In fact, it appears to be the case that there is a subconscious, and in some cases conscious belief that these wireless gadgets are a symbol of ‘progress’ for the human race as a whole. Some, like followers of Yuval Noah Harari, see them as a godly tech; ‘Deus ex machina’, bringing one closer to the omega point of life itself.

Whereas all they actually do – aside from changing one’s genetic and cellular disposition – is embroil one ever deeper in the stifling and soulless virtual agenda of ‘the tech’. The road to hell. 

And, as you will surely know by now, this is where the dark architects of control want us to be.

Take undisciplined fascination in – and reliance upon – the tech far enough and one becomes submerged into it.

“Where attention goes energy flows” is not just a nice little parable, it is an observational truth that has been opened-up to the world by the pioneers of quantum physics. 

It could be added that where ‘inattention’ goes, slavery follows. 

The architects of control are working at reducing living, sentient, emotional beings to biological computers programmed into the matrix of the hive mind, and a large portion of the population are presenting themselves as a blank canvas for this operation.

It is this largely unconscious mindset which must be broken in order for humanity to rescue itself from life in a permanently programmed ‘smart’ prison.

A life in which no possibility of spontaneous creative expression remains and only crumbs are offered as sustenance for mind, body and soul. 

The trap has been set, but its motive and end ambition are at least now exposed. 

That means that those who can still act with discernment and right brain motivation can take the decisive steps necessary to change their circumstances in accordance with their intention not to be victims.

There are two key steps to be taken. One is material and the other is mental/spiritual.

The material one involves paring down one’s life to an uncluttered, simple and essentially rudimentary way of life in a non-urban location in which one has the ability to take some controlling influence over one’s basic needs. 

Pure water, living food, fresh (as possible) air and reasonable shelter. None of these will be 100% uncontaminated, but will nevertheless offer the foundation for a healthy and active existence, within the relative calm of a landscape still influenced by and reflecting the rejuvenating powers of nature.

Cities and large towns are the chosen epicentres of electromagnetic frequency targeting and low quality environmental health hazards. Avoid them if you can.

The second step is mental/spiritual. But ‘second’ is an inappropriate description. It is a need that should be attended to simultaneously with the material. Body, mind and spirit are not disconnected phenomena.

Those wishing to free themselves from the architects of control must recognise that the world is in the grip of a demonic mass indoctrination process which can only be truly counteracted by a properly developed psychic (mental) attitude coupled with a determined raising of spiritual energies.

The Masonic/Luciferian insentient and psychopathic condition survives by feeding on negative energies emanating from those it imprisons.  Shift one’s energetic point of focus to the realisation of those higher powers that patiently await one’s attention on the other side 0f the veil – and one becomes out of reach to the dark forces. Out of reach of low vibrational attacks on one’s psyche.

Not only that, one starts experiencing the rising of a power one may never have thought one possessed; or which one thought was only an external phenomenon. 

Contrary to what many believe, this sense of inner awakening is not progressed by exclusive adoption of a reclusive inward-centred form of contemplation, but by stepping out into the world and taking strong actions that confront injustice and oppression. What in spiritual terms is called ‘service to humanity.’

It is only when an inner nurturing of one’s true power is matched by making use of that power to bring positive change into the world, that true personal growth and awakening gain proper traction and one’s deeper being starts to blossom into a powerful energetic force for good.

It’s vital to understand that it is only when both inner nurturing (i.e. meditation) and outer action for social, mental, physical, economic, political, animal and environmental planetary amelioration are combined – that the key to unlock the door to a metamorphosis of our divided and war-torn world is finally achieved.

A true mental and spiritual dynamic empowers us to face the reality of the world courageously, with a burning desire to transform stagnant and degraded life forces into fountains of deeply uplifting energy. 

This is the true human dynamic. This is the state available to all of us once we grasp the fact that we are here on this earth to make actual the extraordinary potential we are born with. That which is latent in every one of the 13 million cells of our body.

We are on earth, but we are from the cosmos. We are universal sparks of the Supreme Nucleus that brought all life into being. 

We are not here to be plodding along in slavish lockstep with some top-down death wish.

It is only because we have accepted the authority of that which deceives us into believing that we are lesser mortals, fit only for a three-dimensional prison camp, that a great victory for life over death still remains a chimera.

It’s more than time to break free. Being the self-indoctrinated victim of a delusion is no way to spend our brief manifestation on planet earth. 

There’s work to be done – lots of it – and the urge to accomplish this work is the most insistent message of our deepest calling. We ignore it at our peril. 

By embracing the call to action, we set in motion the realisation of both our individual and collective  emancipation – and that of all living beings with whom we share this planet.

So go to it  – immediately – and never look back.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Julian Rose is an early pioneer of UK organic farming, a writer, broadcaster and international activist. He is author of the acclaimed title ‘Overcoming the Robotic Mind’. Do visit his website www.julianrose.info for further information.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most enduring and deeply rooted political and humanitarian crises in the world. For decades, Palestinians have faced occupation, displacement, and violence at the hands of Israeli forces, a situation that many, including legal scholars and human rights advocates, have characterized as bordering on, if not amounting to, genocide. As Israel’s closest ally, the United States has provided extensive financial, military, and diplomatic support to Israel. This relationship has led to accusations that the U.S. is complicit in crimes against humanity, particularly the ongoing violence and human rights abuses inflicted upon the Palestinian people.

The U.S.-Israel Alliance: A Strategic Partnership

Since Israel’s founding in 1948, the U.S. has been its most significant international ally, a relationship built on shared geopolitical interests, strategic goals in the Middle East, and historical narratives rooted in post-World War II alliances. This bond has resulted in unprecedented U.S. support for Israel, particularly in the form of military aid, with the U.S. providing over $3.8 billion annually in military assistance since 2016 through a 10-year memorandum of understanding (MOU). This aid includes advanced weaponry, missile defense systems, and intelligence-sharing, making Israel’s military one of the most formidable in the world.

While such assistance is framed as a means of ensuring Israel’s security in a volatile region, critics argue that it has enabled, if not directly facilitated, the country’s aggressive policies toward Palestinians. The U.S. not only provides military aid but also shields Israel from international condemnation, often vetoing U.N. Security Council resolutions critical of Israeli actions. This unwavering support has contributed to a sense of impunity in Israel, allowing it to continue its occupation of Palestinian territories, engage in military operations in Gaza, and expand illegal settlements in the West Bank, actions that violate international law.

Human Rights Violations and Allegations of Genocide

The term “genocide” is not used lightly, but many analysts and human rights organizations have pointed to elements of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians that fit the criteria outlined in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The convention defines genocide as acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

The Israeli government’s policies of systematic displacement, forced evictions, demolition of Palestinian homes, and the military blockade of Gaza have created conditions that many argue are aimed at the destruction of the Palestinian people’s ability to live in peace and security. Gaza, home to over two million Palestinians, has been described as an open-air prison, with severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods, crippling the local economy, and leading to widespread poverty, malnutrition, and a healthcare crisis. Repeated military assaults, such as those in 2008-2009, 2014, and more recently, have resulted in thousands of Palestinian civilian deaths, including women and children.

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Palestinian families walk through destroyed neighbourhoods in Gaza City on 24 November 2023 as the temporary truce between Hamas and the Israeli army takes effect (MEE/Mohammed al-Hajjar)

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Reports by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have accused Israel of practicing apartheid—a system of governance that ensures the domination of one racial group over another. Furthermore, the United Nations has documented extensive human rights violations committed by Israeli forces, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and collective punishment against Palestinians. Some legal experts have gone further, suggesting that these actions collectively amount to ethnic cleansing, a charge often linked to genocidal practices.

U.S. Complicity: Facilitating the Occupation

The United States plays a critical role in enabling these policies. By providing military aid and diplomatic cover, the U.S. has effectively emboldened Israel’s actions. American weapons, such as F-16 fighter jets and precision-guided missiles, have been used in Israeli military operations that resulted in high civilian casualties in Gaza. In many instances, U.S.-supplied munitions have been linked to airstrikes that killed large numbers of Palestinian civilians, including during the bombings of densely populated areas, schools, hospitals, and U.N.-run facilities.

Furthermore, the U.S. has historically used its position as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to veto resolutions that seek to hold Israel accountable for its actions. Since 1972, the U.S. has cast over 50 vetoes related to Israel, often thwarting international efforts to impose sanctions or initiate investigations into potential war crimes. This diplomatic shield has allowed Israel to operate without fear of international consequences.

The U.S. also plays a significant role in the Israeli economy, particularly through economic assistance and trade agreements that bolster Israel’s military-industrial complex. By ensuring Israel’s military superiority in the region, the U.S. directly contributes to the continuation of the occupation and the oppression of Palestinians. Moreover, the U.S. government has consistently ignored or dismissed calls from human rights groups, international bodies, and even its own lawmakers to condition aid to Israel on its compliance with international law.

The Moral and Legal Responsibility of the United States

Image: President Joe Biden participates in a restricted bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Hotel Kempinski in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, October 18, 2023. (Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith)

Given the U.S.’s direct involvement in providing military, financial, and diplomatic support to Israel, there is a strong argument to be made that the U.S. shares responsibility for the crimes being committed against the Palestinian people. Under international law, states that provide significant support to a country engaged in widespread human rights violations can be held complicit. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has previously ruled that states have a duty not to aid or assist another state in the commission of internationally wrongful acts.

By continuing to fund and arm Israel, despite overwhelming evidence of systematic human rights abuses and violations of international law, the U.S. could be seen as aiding and abetting Israel’s actions. Some legal scholars have gone further, suggesting that U.S. officials could be prosecuted for war crimes or crimes against humanity in international courts. While this remains a distant prospect due to political realities, the moral responsibility of the U.S. government and its citizens cannot be easily dismissed.

The Path Forward: Accountability and Change

To end the cycle of violence and oppression, the U.S. must reassess its relationship with Israel and take concrete steps toward ensuring accountability. This could involve conditioning military aid on Israel’s compliance with international law, supporting U.N. investigations into war crimes, and pushing for a genuine peace process that addresses the core issues of occupation, settlement expansion, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

Moreover, U.S. lawmakers and citizens must acknowledge the country’s role in perpetuating the crisis. Advocacy groups, such as the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, have gained traction in calling for economic and cultural pressure on Israel to end its human rights abuses. By shifting public opinion and pushing for policy changes in Washington, there is potential for a more just and equitable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Conclusion

The U.S. support for Israel in its actions against Palestinians cannot be viewed in isolation. It is part of a broader geopolitical strategy, but it has real and devastating human consequences. As the occupation drags on and the violence intensifies, the international community must confront the uncomfortable truth that the U.S. has been a key enabler of what many see as genocide and crimes against humanity. Ending this complicity is not only a moral imperative but a necessary step toward achieving lasting peace and justice for the Palestinian people.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Prof. Ruel F. Pepa is a Filipino philosopher based in Madrid, Spain. A retired academic (Associate Professor IV), he taught Philosophy and Social Sciences for more than fifteen years at Trinity University of Asia, an Anglican university in the Philippines. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

Sources

Chabon, Michael and  Ayelet Waldman (eds.). Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation (2017). Harper Perennial.

Erakat, Noura. Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine (2019). Stanford University Press.

Finkelstein, Norman. Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom (2018). University of California Press 

Halper, Jeff. War Against the People: Israel, the Palestinians and Global Pacification (2014). Pluto Press.

Masalha, Nur. Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History  (2018). Zed Books Ltd.

Mearsheimer, John and Stephen M. Walt. The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (2007). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Pappé, Ilan. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006). Oneworld Publications.

Said, Edward. The Question of Palestine (1992). Vintage.

Soske, Jon and Sean Jacobs (eds.). Apartheid Israel: The Politics of an Analogy (2015). Haymarket Books.

Weir, Alison. Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel (2014). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Featured image: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Oct. 12, 2023. – Secretary Antony Blinken on X

Below is an excerpt from Katie Cimini’s GoFundMe: 

My dear niece, Katie Cimini, is facing one of the toughest battles of her life. At just 28 years old, Katie has been diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease that requires immediate and intense treatment. As a result, Katie will need to take an extended leave from her job as a beloved teacher to focus on her health and healing.

Katie has always given her all to her students, family, and friends. Now it’s our chance to return the favor. We’re raising funds to help cover her medical expenses—including fertility treatments, surgery, chemotherapy, and possibly radiation—as well as daily living costs and anything else she might need during this challenging time.

Any donation, no matter how big or small, will go directly to supporting Katie and easing her financial burden as she undergoes treatment. Your kindness and generosity mean the world to her, and she is incredibly grateful for any help you can provide.

Thank you for being there for Katie as she faces this fight with strength and resilience. Together, we can help Katie focus on what matters most: her health and recovery.

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My Take… 

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines cause turbo cancer and according to my research, breast cancer is the 3rd most common (1st is lymphoma, 2nd is brain cancer usually glioblastoma).

Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is the most common Breast Turbo Cancer.

It has a really bad prognosis even without the mRNA damage.

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These survival graphs are from a 2018 Brazilian study by Goncalves et al.

These are survival curves for unvaccinated TNBC patients. The curves are expected to be much worse for mRNA-vaccinated TNBC patients.

Teachers were mandated COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to keep their jobs. Now thousands of teachers have either died suddenly or developed late stage cancer.

Katie is only 28 years old. She will probably not see 30.

This is what we normalize when we accept politicians telling us to “move on”.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Dr. William Makis is a Canadian physician with expertise in Radiology, Oncology and Immunology. Governor General’s Medal, University of Toronto Scholar. Author of 100+ peer-reviewed medical publications.  

Featured image is from Katie’s GoFundMe via COVID Intel

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It was 15 years ago: Felicity Arbuthnot recalls the massacre of Palestinian children during the December 2008-January 2009 invasion of Gaza.

It did not start in October 2023.

The killing of children by Israel has been persistent

Veteran War Correspondent Felicity Arbuthnot in solidarity with the Children of Palestine describes the underlying and evolving criminality as well as the Anglo-American complicity. 

***

  “Light the fire so I can see my tears, On the night of the massacre …” (Samih al-Qasim, b: 1939.)

It was that “pinpoint accuracy”, “surgical strike” stuff again, there were “unavoidable tragic errors”, “mistakes”, “scrupulous efforts made to avoid” etc., blah. And as Britain’s Colonel Richard Kemp declared of the fourteen hundred dead of the Christmas and New year onslaught on Gaza in 2008-2009: “Mistakes are not war crimes.” (i)

Colonel Kemp, with impeccable ties to British Intelligence Services, spoke to the BBC from Jerusalem in similar sanguine vein on 21st November(ii) of the then latest twenty four hour bombardment of the tiny, walled in Gaza Strip, where over half the population are children. But Colonel Kemp has seen a fair amount of carnage in his time, from Belfast to the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Seemingly after a while the dead and dismembered are just part of the day job.

The eight day blitz killed one hundred and sixty two Palestinians in what were merciless attacks on families with no where to hide. Nine hundred and ninety nine were injured. Eight hundred and sixty five houses are damaged or destroyed.

Six health centres are damaged, thirty schools, two universities, fifteen NGO offices, twenty seven mosques, fourteen media offices, eleven industrial plants, eighty one commercial stores and a UNRWA food distribution Centre.

In addition seven Ministry offices, fourteen  police or security stations, five banks, and two youth clubs. The sports complex where the Palestinians athletes and paralympians trained for the 2012 London Olympics is reduced to rubble, as is the beautiful and most necessary Gaza Interior Ministry.

On Universal Children’s Day, 20th November, an air strike destroyed the Oxfam-supported Al Bajan kindergarten school and damaged the Al Housna kindergarten. (iii) Oxfam’s Sara Almer commented that more than one hundred and fifty children attended these kindergartens. “The children are safe, but the places where they learned and played are now in ruins.” This in an area: “where they already suffer a high level of trauma …”

The Oxfam project was as a result of the devastation caused by “Operation Cast Lead” between 27th December 2008-17th January 2009, when they also repaired the now re-fractured water and sanitation facilities.

There is a shortage of two hundred and thirty schools in Gaza, the Agency points out – and a ban on importing construction materials, which means the further thirty two damaged, the two universities and all else may well stay that way.

Ironically, on the day of the nurseries’ destruction, the UN Secretary General announced, that marking Universal Children’s Day, the launch of a major UN initiative: “Education First.” The day commemorates the adoption of the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1959 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. The 1989 Convention entered in to force on September 2nd 1990, under a month after the UN embargo on Iraq, with even baby milk formula importation denied.

“The child … needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection before as well as after birth” is included in the preamble to a fine document. (iv)

Four year old twins, Suhaib and Muhammed Hijazi will never learn of the “protection” they are entitled to by the United Nations. They were killed when their home was bombed as the dawn of Universal Children’s Day approached. Their parents, Fouad and Amna died in hospital.

Saraya, eighteen months, won’t grow to read the fine words either, she died of a heart attack, literally frightened to death by the bombardment.

As the lights went off in Gaza’s hospitals, and their generator fuel hovered  on empty, Gilad Sharon – youngest son of eighty four year old former Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, who has benefited from Israel’s fine health services and been on life support systems since 2006 – stated: “We need to flatten entire neighbourhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima – the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki too.”

Israel’s Interior Minister Eli Yishai stated that the goal of the attacks were to: “ … send Gaza back to the Middle Ages.”
Palestine has no army, navy, air force, no heavy weaponry. Israel is an undeclared nuclear power, regarded as having the fourth strongest military on earth.

Gaza was, of course being bombed by American supplied F-16s and a variety of American weaponry. But as Gaza grieved, America had parades across the land, ate turkey, prayed over their festive dinners on Thanksgiving Day, 22nd November.

Reality would have had them burning, city to city, The UN Declaration and Convention on the Rights of the Child, The UN Declaration on Human Rights, The Geneva Convention, The Nuremberg Principles and making a pyre of all the fine, meaningless words which do not end or mask international lawlessness and inhumanity. A bonfire which might light the  lie of the whole murderous hypocrisy of self proclaimed “democratic” nation states.

Notes

i.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kemp
ii.    http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9771000/9771507.stm
iii.    http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m92857&hd=&size=1&l=e
iv.    http://un.by/en/hr/doc/child/

Hurricane Helene began the day Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane, and quickly transformed into one of the largest, most powerful Gulf storms on record, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph at landfall.

Why it matters: Rapidly intensifying hurricanes can catch residents off guard and unable to flee a suddenly stronger storm as it bears down on them.

• Studies show climate change is one major factor behind the trends shown by Helene, Category 5 Hurricane Michael, Hurricane Laura and other similar storms.

Zoom in: Until about 2017, Gulf of Mexico hurricanes rarely intensified all the way to landfall in the northern Gulf, due mainly to cooler waters near the shoreline and less hospitable conditions in the atmosphere.

• Yet since then, rapidly intensifying storms have seemingly become the norm there.
• It is no coincidence that Helene’s intensification coincided with the storm’s travel over the Loop Current, which is part of the ocean current that becomes the Gulf Stream.
• Water temperatures in this region are about 88°F, and bathtub-like temps extend far beneath the surface.
• This gave the storm a deep reservoir of heat to tap into for energy, and it is here that it overcame dry air that had been holding back its intensification rate.

The intrigue: The Loop Current also supercharged Hurricane Katrina in 2005, before that storm weakened on its approach to land, making landfall as a Category 3 storm (with the surge heights of a stronger storm, however).

• This year, the current is a sizzling spot within an already record-hot body of water, with ocean temperatures and heat content at or near all-time highs in the Gulf of Mexico.
• These elevated water temperatures have been linked to climate change. The research group Climate Central found that the waters the storm traversed were 200 to 500 times more likely today’s environment of higher greenhouse gases, when compared to the preindustrial era.
• The record warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico are also helping to give Helene and its remnants record high amounts of water vapor, which is leading to record rainfall and “catastrophic flooding” in the southern Appalachians.

By the numbers: Helene goes down in the record books as one of eight landfalling storms in the U.S. that have rapidly intensified by at least 35 mph in the 24 hours prior to landfall since 2017.

• Between 1982-2016 only six storms had displayed such a ramp up in intensity before a U.S. landfall, according to meteorologist Kieran Bhatia.

Between the lines: Due largely to climate change, more storms now undergo rapid intensification, and there is an amplification of the intensification rates in the Atlantic Ocean Basin.

• More storms are intensifying rapidly near the coast, as well, a recent study found.
• These and others studies are consistent with how quickly and significantly Hurricane Helene intensified on its way to making landfall.
• Remarkably, though, at least with this storm, the NHC was able to anticipate the burst of rapid intensification, and explicitly forecast it.
• Many previous instances have been forecast misses.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image is from the Public Domain

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC
United States of America

The Honorable Kamala D. Harris
Vice President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC
United States of America

October 2, 2024

Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris,

We are 99 American physicians, surgeons, nurse practitioners, nurses, and midwives who have volunteered in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. Combined, we spent 254 weeks volunteering in Gaza’s hospitals and clinics. We worked with various nongovernmental organizations and the World Health Organization in hospitals and clinics throughout the Strip. In addition to our medical and surgical expertise, many of us have a public health background, as well as experience working in humanitarian and conflict zones, including Ukraine during the brutal Russian invasion. Some of us are veterans and reservists. We are a multifaith and multiethnic group. None of us support the horrors committed on October 7 by Palestinian armed groups and individuals in Israel.

The Constitution of the World Health Organization states: “The health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security and is dependent on the fullest cooperation of individuals and States.” It is in this spirit that we write to you in this open letter.

We are among the only neutral observers who have been permitted to enter the Gaza Strip since October 7. Given our broad expertise and direct experience of working throughout Gaza we are uniquely positioned to comment on several matters of importance to our government as it decides whether to continue supporting Israel’s attack on, and siege of, the Gaza Strip. Specifically, we believe we are well positioned to comment on the massive human toll from Israel’s attack on Gaza, especially the toll it has taken on women and children.

This letter collects and summarizes our own experiences and direct observations in Gaza. The letter is accompanied by a detailed appendix summarizing the publicly available information from media, humanitarian, and academic sources on key aspects of Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Both this letter and the appendix are available electronically at GazaHealthcareLetters.org. This website also houses letters from Canadian and British healthcare workers to their respective governments, making many similar observations to those herein.

This letter and the appendix show probative evidence that the human toll in Gaza since October is far higher than is understood in the United States. It is likely that the death toll from this conflict is already greater than 118,908, an astonishing 5.4% of Gaza’s population.

Our government must act immediately to prevent an even worse catastrophe than what has already befallen the people of Gaza and Israel. A ceasefire must be imposed on the warring parties by withholding military support for Israel and supporting an international arms embargo on Israel and all Palestinian armed groups. We believe our government is obligated to do this, both under American law and International Humanitarian Law. We also believe it is the right thing to do.

I’ve never seen such horrific injuries, on such a massive scale, with so few resources. Our bombs are cutting down women and children by the thousands. Their mutilated bodies are a monument to cruelty. —Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, trauma and critical care surgeon, Veterans Affairs general surgeon

Image: Yazan al-Kafarna is one of the latest to die of hunger and malnutrition in Gaza since the start of the war on 7 October (Screengrab/X)

With only marginal exceptions, everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both. This includes every national aid worker, every international volunteer, and probably every Israeli hostage: every man, woman, and child. While working in Gaza we saw widespread malnutrition in our patients and our Palestinian healthcare colleagues. Every one of us lost weight rapidly in Gaza despite having privileged access to food and having taken our own supplementary nutrient-dense food with us. We have photographic evidence of life-threatening malnutrition in our patients, especially children, that we are eager to share with you.

Virtually every child under the age of five whom we encountered, both inside and outside of the hospital, had both a cough and watery diarrhea. We found cases of jaundice (indicating hepatitis A infection under such conditions) in nearly every room of the hospitals in which we served, and in many of our healthcare colleagues in Gaza. An astonishingly high percentage of our surgical incisions became infected from the combination of malnutrition, impossible operating conditions, lack of basic sanitation supplies such as soap, and lack of surgical supplies and medications, including antibiotics.

Malnutrition led to widespread spontaneous abortions, underweight newborns, and an inability of new mothers to breastfeed. This left their newborns at high risk of death given the lack of access to potable water anywhere in Gaza. Many of those infants died. In Gaza we watched malnourished mothers feed their underweight newborns infant formula made with poisonous water. We can never forget that the world abandoned these innocent women and babies.

Every day I saw babies die. They had been born healthy. Their mothers were so malnourished that they could not breastfeed, and we lacked formula or clean water to feed them, so they starved. —Asma Taha, pediatric nurse practitioner

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Palestinians line up to fetch some water in a refugee camp in Gaza. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)

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We urge you to realize that epidemics are raging in Gaza. Israel’s continued, repeated displacement of the malnourished and sick population of Gaza, half of whom are children, to areas without running water or even toilets available is absolutely shocking. It was and remains guaranteed to result in widespread death from viral and bacterial diarrheal diseases and pneumonias, particularly in children under the age of five. Indeed, even the dreaded polio virus has reemerged in Gaza due to a combination of systematic destruction of the sanitation infrastructure, widespread malnutrition weakening immune systems, and young children having missed routine vaccinations for nearly an entire year. We worry that unknown thousands have already died from the lethal combination of malnutrition and disease, and that tens of thousands more will die in the coming months, especially with the onset of the winter rains in Gaza. Most of them will be young children.

Gaza was the first time I held a baby’s brains in my hand. The first of many. —Dr. Mark Perlmutter, orthopedic and hand surgeon

Children are universally considered innocents in armed conflict. However, every single signatory to this letter saw children in Gaza who suffered violence that must have been deliberately directed at them. Specifically, every one of us who worked in an emergency, intensive care, or surgical setting treated pre-teen children who were shot in the head or chest on a regular or even a daily basis. It is impossible that such widespread shooting of young children throughout Gaza, sustained over the course of an entire year is accidental or unknown to the highest Israeli civilian and military authorities.

President Biden and Vice President Harris, we wish you could see the nightmares that plague so many of us since we have returned: dreams of children maimed and mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save them. We wish you could hear the cries and screams our consciences will not let us forget. We cannot fathom why you continue arming the country that is deliberately killing these children en masse.

I saw so many stillbirths and maternal deaths that could have been easily prevented if the hospitals had been functioning normally. —Dr. Thalia Pachiyannakis, obstetrician and gynecologist

The pregnant and breastfeeding women we treated were particularly malnourished. Those of us who worked with pregnant women regularly saw stillbirths and maternal deaths that were easily preventable in any developing country’s healthcare system. The rate of infection in C-section incisions was astonishing. Women underwent vaginal deliveries and even C-sections without anesthesia and were given nothing but Tylenol afterwards because no other pain medications were available.

We all observed emergency departments overwhelmed by patients seeking treatment for chronic medical conditions such as renal failure, hypertension, and diabetes. Aside from trauma patients, most ICU beds were occupied by patients with type 1 diabetes who no longer had access to insulin. The lack of medication availability, the widespread loss of electricity and refrigeration, and inconsistent access to food made managing this disease impossible. Israel has destroyed more than half of Gaza’s healthcare resources and has killed nearly one thousand Palestinian healthcare workers, more than one out of every 20 healthcare workers in Gaza. At the same time healthcare needs have increased massively from the lethal combination of military violence, malnutrition, disease, and displacement.

The hospitals where we worked were starved of basic supplies from, surgical material to soap. They were regularly cut off from electricity and Internet access, denied clean water, and operated at four to seven times their bed capacity. Every hospital was overwhelmed beyond the breaking point by displaced persons seeking safety, by the constant stream of sick and malnourished patients seeking care, and by the huge influx of seriously wounded patients who typically arrived in mass casualty events.

These observations and the publicly available material detailed in the appendix lead us to believe that the death toll from this conflict is many times higher than what is reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health. We also believe this is probative evidence of widespread violations of American laws governing the use of American weapons abroad, and of International Humanitarian Law. We cannot forget scenes of unbearable cruelty directed at women and children that our government is a direct participant in.

As we met our healthcare colleagues in Gaza it was clear that they were malnourished, and both physically and mentally devastated. We quickly learned that our Palestinian healthcare colleagues were among the most traumatized people in Gaza, and perhaps in the entire world. Like virtually all people in Gaza they had lost family members and their homes. Most lived in and around their hospitals with their surviving family in unimaginable conditions. Although they continued working a grueling schedule, they had not been paid since October 7. All were acutely aware that their work as healthcare providers had marked them as targets for Israel. This makes a mockery of the protected status hospitals and healthcare providers are granted under the oldest and most widely accepted provisions of International Humanitarian Law.

We met healthcare personnel in Gaza who worked at hospitals that had been raided and destroyed by Israel. Many of these colleagues of ours were taken by Israel during the attacks. They all told us a slightly different version of the same story: in captivity they were barely fed, continuously physically and psychologically abused, and finally dumped naked on the side of a road. Many told us they were subjected to mock executions and other forms of mistreatment and torture. Far too many of our healthcare colleagues told us they were simply waiting to die.

The 99 signatories to this letter spent a combined 254 weeks inside Gaza’s largest hospitals and clinics. We wish to be absolutely clear: not once did any of us see any type of Palestinian militant activity in any of Gaza’s hospitals or other healthcare facilities.

We urge you to see that Israel has systematically and deliberately devastated Gaza’s entire healthcare system, and that Israel has targeted our colleagues in Gaza for torture, disappearance, and murder.

President Biden and Vice President Harris, any solution to this problem must begin with an immediate and permanent ceasefire. We appreciate that you are working on a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, but you have overlooked an obvious fact: the United States can impose a ceasefire on the warring parties by simply stopping arms shipments to Israel, and announcing that we will participate in an international arms embargo on both Israel and all Palestinian armed groups. We stress what many others have repeatedly told you over the past year: American law is perfectly clear on this matter, continuing to arm Israel is illegal.

President Biden and Vice President Harris, we urge you to immediately withhold military, economic, and diplomatic support from the State of Israel and to participate in an international arms embargo of Israel and all Palestinian armed groups until a permanent ceasefire is established in Gaza, including the release of all Israeli and Palestinian hostages, and until a permanent resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is negotiated between the two parties. Vice President Harris, as the likely next president of the United States, we urge you to publicly announce your support for such a policy, and to state publicly that you are duty-bound to uphold the laws of the United States even when doing so is politically inconvenient.

President Biden and Vice President Harris, we are 99 American physicians and nurses who have witnessed crimes beyond comprehension. Crimes that we cannot believe you wish to continue supporting. Please meet with us to discuss what we saw, and why we feel American policy in the Middle East must change immediately.

In the meantime, we reiterate what we wrote in our letter of July 25, 2024:

1. The Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt must be immediately reopened, and must allow unfettered aid delivery by recognized international humanitarian organizations. Security screening of aid deliveries must be conducted by an independent international inspection regime instead of by Israeli forces. These screenings must be based on a clear, unambiguous, and published list of forbidden items, and with a clear independent international mechanism for challenging forbidden items, as verified by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory.

2. A bare minimum water allocation of 15L of potable water per person per day, the Sphere Handbook minimum in a humanitarian emergency, must be allocated to the population of Gaza, as verified by UN Water.

3. Full and unrestricted access of medical and surgical professionals and medical and surgical equipment to the Gaza Strip must be resumed. This must include items taken in healthcare professionals’ personal luggage to safeguard their proper storage, sterility, and timely delivery, as verified by the World Health Organization. Incredibly, Israel continues to block healthcare workers of Palestinian descent from working in Gaza, even American citizens. This makes a mockery of the American ideal that “all men are created equal” and degrades both our national ideals and our profession. Our work is lifesaving. Our Palestinian healthcare colleagues in Gaza are desperate for relief and protection, and they deserve both.

We are not politicians. We do not claim to have all the answers. We are simply healing professionals who cannot remain silent about what we saw in Gaza. Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets.

President Biden and Vice President Harris, we urge you: end this madness now!

Sincerely,

Click here to see the full list of signatories.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Featured image source

Introduction and Update 

Outstanding and timely analysis: this article by Charlotte Greenfield documents the Taliban government’s current project to eradicate opium and implement crop substitution.

What is significant is that in the year 2000-2001, a similar project was implemented under UN auspices — presented to the UN General Assembly in October 2001– at the height of the US-NATO invasion .

The Taliban government –in collaboration with the United Nations– had imposed a successful ban on poppy cultivation.

Opium production declined by more than 90 per cent in 2001.  

Heroin is a multibillion dollar business supported by powerful interests, which requires a steady and secure commodity flow.

One of the “unspoken” objectives of the October 7, 2001 war against Afghanistan was to restore the U.S. sponsored drug trade to its historical levels and exert direct control over the drug routes. (see graph above)

Immediately following the October 2001 invasion, opium markets were restored. Opium prices spiraled. By early 2002, the opium price (in dollars/kg) was almost 10 times higher than in 2000.

In 2001, under the Taliban opiate production stood at 185 tons, increasing  to 3400 tons in 2002 under the US sponsored puppet regime of President Hamid Karzai.

In fact the surge in opium cultivation production coincided with the onslaught of the US-led military operation (October 2001) and the downfall of the Taliban regime.  

From October through December 2001, farmers started to replant poppy on an extensive basis. 

In recent developments, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) (5 November 2023):

Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan plunged by an estimated 95 per cent following a drug ban imposed by the de facto authorities in April 2022, according to a new research brief from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).  

UN officials noted that the near-total contraction of the opiate economy is expected to have far-reaching consequences and highlighted the urgent need for enhanced assistance for rural communities, accompanied by alternative development support to build an opium-free future for the people of Afghanistan.  

Opium cultivation fell across all parts of the country, from 233,000 hectares to just 10,800 hectares in 2023. The decrease has led to a corresponding 95 per cent drop in the supply of opium, from 6,200 tons in 2022 to just 333 tons in 2023.  

The sharp reduction has had immediate humanitarian consequences for many vulnerable rural communities who relied on income from cultivating opium. Farmers’ income from selling the 2023 opium harvest to traders fell by more than 92 per cent from an estimated US$1,360 million for the 2022 harvest to US$110 million in 2023.  

“This presents a real opportunity to build towards long-term results against the illicit opium market and the damage it causes both locally and globally,” said Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC. “At the same time, there are important consequences and risks that need to be addressed for an outcome that is ultimately positive and sustainable, especially for the people of Afghanistan.”

The impact on the Global Trade in Heroin which is estimated to be in excess of 100 billion dollars has created havoc.

Heroin is a multibillion dollar trade. What are the broader implications? Will this second attempt by the Taliban government to restrict the drug trade lead to U.S military intervention with a view to restoring the multibillion dollar trade in heroin?

In a recent report by the Crisis Group:

The Taliban have been blamed for undermining Afghanistan’s “illegal narcotics industry” to the detriment of Afghanistan’s peasantry: “rounding up drug users, destroying opium poppy and cannabis fields,  … their initiative strikes at the backbone of Afghanistan’s informal economy and the livelihoods of the rural poor.”

“Why does it matter? The ban has drastically reduced cultivation, but Afghan-produced drugs are still hitting the global market as dealers continue selling stockpiles and some farmers resist the ban. The Taliban’s crackdown has devastated the economic outlook for farmers and rural labourers with few other employment options. Women have been particularly affected.”

What is not mentioned is the impact of the multibillion opium trade controlled by powerful business interests.

America’s “humanitarian option” is to restore opium cultivation, with a view to saving the West’s multibillion dollar narcotics trade (controlled by the financial elites)

According to The Global Financial Integrity report entitled “Transnational Crime and the Developing World” the estimated retail value of the global illicit drug market is between US$426 and US$652 billion in 2014.

Other sources –which do not address the retail value estimate as well the issue of money laundering– estimate the trade in narcotics to be of the order of US$300- 400 billion, which is in excess of the Worldwide trade in LNG natural gas estimated at US$160 billion in 2019. (These estimates are subject to verification).

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“Empire of Drugs”: Taliban’s Eradication of Opium

Reveals Harsh Reality of U.S. Occupation of Afghanistan

Charlotte Greenfield

Free Thought Project

November 5, 2024

For the entirety of the 20 year US occupation, Afghanistan was the primary source for 90% of the world’s heroin. In just over a year the Taliban has nearly eradicated Afghani heroin production, raising serious questions about the US role in facilitating the global drug trade.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan – the nation that until recently produced 90% of the world’s heroin – has drastically reduced opium cultivation across the country. Western sources estimate an up to 99% reduction in some provinces. This raises serious questions about the seriousness of U.S. drug eradication efforts in the country over the past 20 years. And, as global heroin supplies dry up, experts tell MintPress News that they fear this could spark the growing use of fentanyl – a drug dozens of times stronger than heroin that already kills more than 100,000 Americans yearly.

The Taliban Does What the US Did Not

It has already been called “the most successful counter-narcotics effort in human history [2000-2001].” Armed with little more than sticks, teams of counter-narcotics brigades travel the country, cutting down Afghanistan’s poppy fields.

In April of last year [2022], the ruling Taliban government announced the prohibition of poppy farming, citing both their strong religious beliefs and the extremely harmful social costs that heroin and other opioids – derived from the sap of the poppy plant – have wrought across Afghanistan.

It has not been all bluster. New research from geospatial data company Alcis suggests that poppy production has already plummeted by around 80% since last year.

Indeed, satellite imagery shows that in Helmand Province, the area that produces more than half of the crop, poppy production has dropped by a staggering 99%. Just 12 months ago, poppy fields were dominant. But Alcis estimates that there are now less than 1,000 hectares of poppy growing in Helmand.

Instead, farmers are planting wheat, helping stave off the worst of a famine that U.S. sanctions helped create. Afghanistan is still in a perilous state, however, with the United Nations warning that six million people are close to starvation.

Data from Alcis shows that a majority of Afghan farmers switched from growing poppy to wheat in a single year

The Taliban waited until 2022 to impose the long-awaited ban in order not to interfere with the growing season. Doing so would have provoked unrest among the rural population by eradicating a crop that farmers had spent months growing. Between 2020 and late 2022, the price of opium in local markets rose by as much as 700%. Yet given the Taliban’s insistence – and their efficiency at eradication – few have been tempted to plant poppies.

The poppy ban has been matched by a similar campaign against the methamphetamine industry, with the government targeting the ephedra crop and shutting down ephedrine labs across the country.

A Looming Catastrophe

Afghanistan produces almost 90% of the world’s heroin. Therefore, the eradication of the opium crop will have profound worldwide consequences on drug use. Experts MintPress spoke to warned that a dearth of heroin would likely produce a huge spike in the use of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, a drug the Center for Disease Control estimates is 50 times stronger and is responsible for taking the lives of more than 100,000 Americans each year.

“It is important to consider past periods of heroin shortages and the impact these have had on the European drug market,” the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) told MintPress, adding:

Experience in the E.U. with previous periods of reduced heroin supply suggests that this can lead to changes in patterns of drug supply and use. This can include further an increase in rates of polysubstance use among heroin users. Additional risks to existing users may be posed by the substitution of heroin with more harmful synthetic opioids, including fentanyl and its derivatives and new potent benzimidazole opioids.”

In other words, if heroin is no longer available, users will switch to far deadlier synthetic forms of the drug. A 2022 United Nations report came to a similar conclusion, noting that the crackdown on heroin production could lead to the “replacement of heroin or opium by other substances…such as fentanyl and its analogs.”

“It does have that danger in the macro sense, that if you take all that heroin off the market, people are going to go to other products,” Matthew Hoh told MintPress.

Hoh is a former State Department official who resigned from his post in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, in 2009. “But the response should not be reinvade Afghanistan, reoccupy it and put the drug lords back in power, which is basically what people are implying when they bemoan the consequence of the Taliban stopping the drug trade,” Hoh added;

“Most of the people who are speaking this way and worrying out loud about it are people who want to find a reason for the U.S. to go and affect regime change in Afghanistan.”

There certainly has been plenty of hand-wringing from American sources. “Foreign Policy,” wrote about “how the Taliban’s ‘war on drugs’ could backfire;” U.S. government-funded “Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty” claimed that the Taliban were turning a “blind eye to opium production,” despite the official ban. And the United States Institute of Peace, an institution created by Congress that is “dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible,” stated emphatically that “the Taliban’s successful opium ban is bad for Afghans and the world”.

This looming catastrophe, however, will not hit immediately. Significant stockpiles of drugs along trafficking routes still exist. As the EMCDDA told MintPress:

It can take over 12 months before the opium harvest appears on the European retail drug market as heroin – and so it is too early to predict, at this stage, the future impact of the cultivation ban on heroin availability in Europe. Nonetheless, if the ban on opium cultivation is enforced and sustained, it could have a significant impact on heroin availability in Europe during 2024 or 2025.”

Yet there is little indication that the Taliban are anything but serious about eradicating the crop, indicating that a heroin crunch is indeed coming.

A similar attempt by the Taliban to eliminate the drug occurred in 2000, the last full year that they were in power. It was extraordinarily successful, with opium reduction dropping from 4,600 tons to just 185 tons. At that time, it took around 18 months for the consequences to be felt in the West. In the United Kingdom, average heroin purity fell from 55% to 34%, while in the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, heroin was largely replaced by fentanyl. However, as soon as the United States invaded in 2001, poppy cultivation shot back up to previous levels and the supply chain recommenced.

US Complicity in the Afghan Drug Trade

The Taliban’s successful campaign to eradicate drug production has cast a shadow of doubt over the effectiveness of American-led endeavors to achieve the same outcome. “It prompts the question, ‘What were we actually accomplishing there?!’” remarked Hoh, underscoring:

This undermines one of the fundamental premises behind the wars: the alleged association between the Taliban and the drug trade – a concept of a narco-terror nexus. However, this notion was fallacious. The reality was that Afghanistan was responsible for a staggering 80-90% of the world’s illicit opiate supply. The primary controllers of this trade were the Afghan government and military, entities we upheld in power.”

Hoh clarified that he never personally witnessed or received any reports of direct involvement by U.S. troops or officials in narcotics trafficking. Instead, he contended that there existed a “conscious and deliberate turning away from the unfolding events” during his tenure in Afghanistan.’

Suzanna Reiss, an academic at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the author of “We Sell Drugs: The Alchemy of U.S. Empire,” demonstrated an even more cynical perspective on American counter-narcotics endeavors as she conveyed to MintPress:

The U.S. has never really been focused on reducing the drug trade in Afghanistan (or elsewhere for that matter). All the lofty rhetoric aside, the U.S. has been happy to work with drug traffickers if the move would advance certain geopolitical interests (and indeed, did so, or at least turned a knowingly blind eye, when groups like the Northern Alliance relied on drugs to fund their political movement against the regime.).”

Afghanistan’s transformation into a preeminent narco-state owes a significant debt to Washington’s actions.

Poppy cultivation in the 1970s was relatively limited. However, the tide changed in 1979 with the inception of Operation Cyclone, a massive infusion of funds to Afghan Mujahideen factions aimed at exhausting the Soviet military and terminating its presence in Afghanistan.

The U.S. directed billions toward the insurgents, yet their financial needs persisted. Consequently, the Mujahideen delved into the illicit drug trade. By the culmination of Operation Cyclone, Afghanistan’s opium production had soared twentyfold. Professor Alfred McCoy, acclaimed author of “The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade,” shared with MintPress that approximately 75% of the planet’s illegal opium output was now sourced from Afghanistan, a substantial portion of the proceeds funneling to U.S.-backed rebel factions.

Unraveling the Opioid Crisis: An Impending Disaster

The opioid crisis is the worst addiction epidemic in U.S. history. Earlier this year, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas described the American fentanyl problem as “the single greatest challenge we face as a country.” Nearly 110,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2021, fentanyl being by far the leading cause. Between 2015 and 2021, the National Institute of Health recorded a nearly 7.5-fold increase in overdose deaths. Medical journal The Lancet predicts that 1.2 million Americans will die from opioid overdoses by 2029.

U.S. officials blame Mexican cartels for smuggling the synthetic painkiller across the southern border and China for producing the chemicals necessary to make the drug.

White Americans are more likely to misuse these types of drugs than other races. Adults aged 35-44 experience the highest rates of deaths, although deaths among younger people are surging. Rural America has been particularly hard hit; a 2017 study by the National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau Federation found that 74% of farmers have been directly impacted by the opioid epidemic. West Virginia and Tennessee are the states most badly hit.

For writer Chris Hedges, who hails from rural Maine, the fentanyl crisis is an example of one of the many “diseases of despair” the U.S. is suffering from. It has, according to Hedges,

“risen from a decayed world where opportunity, which confers status, self-esteem and dignity, has dried up for most Americans. They are expressions of acute desperation and morbidity.”

In essence, when the American dream fizzled out, it was replaced by an American nightmare. That white men are the prime victims of these diseases of despair is an ironic outgrowth of our unfair system. As Hedges explained:

White men, more easily seduced by the myth of the American dream than people of color who understand how the capitalist system is rigged against them, often suffer feelings of failure and betrayal, in many cases when they are in their middle years. They expect, because of notions of white supremacy and capitalist platitudes about hard work leading to advancement, to be ascendant. They believe in success.”

In this sense, it is important to place the opioid addiction crisis in a wider context of American decline, where opportunities for success and happiness are fewer and farther between than ever, rather than attribute it to individuals. As the “Lancet” wrote: “Punitive and stigmatizing approaches must end. Addiction is not a moral failing. It is a medical condition and poses a constant threat to health.”

A “Uniquely American Problem”

Nearly 10 million Americans misuse prescription opioids every year and at a rate far higher than comparable developed countries. Deaths due to opioid overdose in the United States are ten times more common per capita than in Germany and more than 20 times as frequent in Italy, for instance.

Much of this is down to the United States’ for-profit healthcare system. American private insurance companies are far more likely to favor prescribing drugs and pills than more expensive therapies that get to the root cause of the issue driving the addiction in the first place. As such, the opioid crisis is commonly referred to as a “uniquely American problem.”

Part of the reason U.S. doctors are much more prone to doling out exceptionally strong pain medication relief than their European counterparts is that they were subject to a hyper-aggressive marketing campaign from Purdue Pharma, manufacturers of the powerful opioid OxyContin. Purdue launched OxyContin in 1996, and its agents swarmed doctors’ offices to push the new “wonder drug.”

Yet, in lawsuit after lawsuit, the company has been accused of lying about both the effectiveness and the addictiveness of OxyContin, a drug that has hooked countless Americans onto opioids. And when legal but incredibly addictive prescription opioids dry up, Americans turned to illicit substances like heroin and fentanyl as substitutes.

Purdue Pharma owners, the Sackler family, have regularly been described as “the most evil family in America”, with many laying the blame for the hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths squarely at their door. In 2019, under the weight of thousands of lawsuits against it, Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy. A year later, it plead guilty to criminal charges over its mismarketing of OxyContin.

Nevertheless, the Sacklers made out like bandits from their actions. Even after being forced last year to pay nearly $6 billion in cash to victims of the opioid crisis, they remain one of the world’s richest families and have refused to apologize for their role in constructing an empire of pain that has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Instead, the family has attempted to launder their image through philanthropy, sponsoring many of the most prestigious arts and cultural institutions in the world. These include the Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Yale University, and the British Museum and Royal Academy in London.

One group who are disproportionately affected by opioids like OxyContin, heroin and fentanyl are veterans. According to the National Institutes of Health, veterans are twice as likely to die from overdose than the general population. One reason for this is bureaucracy. “The Veterans Administration did a really poor job in the past decades with their pain management, particularly their reliance on opioids,” Hoh, a former marine, told MintPress, noting that the V.A. prescribed dangerous opioids at a higher rate than other healthcare agencies.

Ex-soldiers often have to cope with chronic pain and brain injuries. Hoh noted that around a quarter-million veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq have traumatic brain injuries. But added to that are the deep moral injuries many suffered – injuries that typically cannot be seen. As Hoh noted:

Veterans are turning to [opioids like fentanyl] to deal with the mental, emotional and spiritual consequences of the war, using them to quell the distress, try to find some relief, escape from the depression, and deal with the demons that come home with veterans who took part in those wars.”

Thus, if the Taliban’s opium eradication program continues, it could spark a fentanyl crisis that might kill more Americans than the 20-year occupation ever did.

Broken Society

If diseases of despair are common throughout the United States, they are rampant in Afghanistan itself. A global report released in March revealed that Afghans are by far the most miserable people on Earth. Afghans evaluated their lives at 1.8 out of 10 – dead last and far behind the top of the pile Finland (7.8 out of 10).

Opium addiction in Afghanistan is out of control, with around 9% of the adult population (and a significant number of children) addicted. Between 2005 and 2015, the number of adult drug users jumped from 900,000 to 2.4 million, according to the United Nations, which estimates that almost one in three households is directly affected by addiction. As opium is frequently injected, blood-transmitted conditions like HIV are common as well.

The opioid problem has also spilled into neighboring countries such as Iran and Pakistan. A 2013 United Nations report estimated that almost 2.5 million Pakistanis were abusing opioids, including 11% of people in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Around 700 people die each day from overdoses.

Empire of Drugs

Given their history, It is perhaps understandable that Asian nations have generally taken far more authoritarian measures to counter drug addiction issues. For centuries, using the illegal drug trade to advance imperial objectives has been a common Western tactic. In the 1940s and 1950s, the French utilized opium crops in the “Golden Triangle” region of Southeast Asia in order to counter the growing Vietnamese independence movement.

A century previously, the British used opium to crush and conquer much of China. Britain’s insatiable thirst for Chinese tea was beginning to bankrupt the country, seeing as China would only accept gold or silver in exchange. The British, therefore, used the power of its navy to force China to cede Hong Kong to it. From there, it flooded mainland China with opium grown in South Asia (including Afghanistan).

The effect of the Opium War was astonishing. By 1880, the British were inundating China with more than 6,500 tons of opium per year – the equivalent of many billions of doses. Chinese society crumbled, unable to deal with the empire-wide social and economic dislocation that millions of opium addicts brought. Today, the Chinese continue to refer to the period as the “century of humiliation”.

Meanwhile, in South Asia, the British forced farmers to plant poppy fields instead of edible crops, causing waves of giant famines, the likes of which had never been seen before or since.

And during the 1980s in Central America, the United States sold weapons to Iran in order to fund far-right Contra death squads. The Contras were deeply implicated in the cocaine trade, fuelling their dirty war through crack cocaine sales in the U.S. – a practice that, according to journalist Gary Webb, the Central Intelligence Agency facilitated.

Imperialism and illicit drugs, therefore, commonly go together. However, with the Taliban opium eradication effort in full effect, coupled with the uniquely American phenomenon of opioid addiction, it is possible that the United States will suffer significant blowback in the coming years.

The deadly fentanyl epidemic will likely only get worse, needlessly taking hundreds of thousands more American lives. Thus, even as Afghanistan attempts to rid itself of its deadly drug addiction problem, its actions could precipitate an epidemic that promises to kill more Americans than any of Washington’s imperial endeavors to date.

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The 2023 Israeli-Hamas war started similarly to the way the 2001 War on Terrorism started. It was a response to a deadly attack on the country by an official enemy.

But more than that, as stated by this week’s guest on the Global Research News Hour, there are numerous parallels between “9/11” and “10/7.” Both the attacks seemed to satisfy certain military aims and geo-strategic ambitions of the countries in question satisfied by “fighting terrorists.” Also, there seem to be clear indications that the attacks of both 9/11 and 10/7 were known in advance and allowed to happen.

In addition, both wars were proclaimed on October 7! 

Richard Gage, AIA, is a San Francisco Bay area architect and a member of  the American Institute of Architects and founder and former CEO of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. He now leads the charge for a new World Trade Center investigation along with his courageous wife Gail at RichardGage911.org.

Here he is breaking down his arguments.

More of his analysis is available at RichardGage911.org

Transcript of Richard Gage, AIA, October 2, 2024

Global Research: Richard, first of all, what first got you to thinking of the October 7th attack of last year as a kind of a replay of the September 11th attacks?

Richard Gage: 9-11 and Gaza both shared the features of false flag operations. What are those? Well, first, they create the original problem.

And what are the problems associated with these two events? Well, there’s parallel number one, previously established geostrategic goals coveting the natural resources of the target territory. And parallel number two, a rich history of historic and recent provocations and false flag operations by the United States and by Israel to achieve their respective goals. They deploy politically useful, controlled patsies.

Parallel number three. Parallel number four, they have a triggering event like an innovative attack with dubious origins, a manufactured invasion from foreign operatives. Parallel number five, a catastrophic intelligence failure, which of course Gaza is particularly famous for, along with 9-11 and the stand down, the military stand down, which is parallel six, an obvious uncharacteristic delay in response.

Whoops, something happened. We couldn’t quite get a handle on this massive overwhelm of our resources. Parallel number seven, of course, is foreknowledge of the attacks because with engineered events like these, people know about them in advance.

Parallel number eight is an interesting one, an uncontrolled delight during the attacks. In both cases, we have Israelis dancing during massive destruction or being under attack. In the case of Gaza, Israelis actually dancing during a rocket attack from Gaza, which is supposed to be a problem they’re supposed to be defending against, but they’re dancing during this attack.

What do they know, in other words? Well, that was all the original problem, but there’s a series of parallels associated with the management of the public reaction to the problem, i.e. parallel number nine, government in media propaganda with outrageous slogans in order to manipulate public emotions and deploying crisis actors. Parallel 10, atrocities are alleged to the enemy with the ensuing dehumanization. This is, of course, famous.

They said, these are animals in Gaza, and none of those were actually true. In the US, Guantanamo Bay, they’re described as the worst of the worst. That’s why they have to be put in these prisons and done extraordinary rendition, et cetera, et cetera.

Parallel 11 is the denial of those atrocities by the enemy. Osama bin Laden, in the case of 9-11, denying responsibility for the attacks, and of course, the atrocities being denied by Hamas that were alleged to them in the form of severe abuse, rapes, beheading of babies, et cetera. Parallel 12 is the opposition media and journalists that are targeted.

Al Jazeera was targeted in the case of the invasion of Iraq and its attack. Of course, once again, I think 100 journalists have been attacked, killed, in following 10-7. They have the original problem that they create.

They manage the public reaction, and then Part C is offering the prescribed solution to the problem, which includes several parallels in and of itself, like the military revenge attack. Parallel 13, prepared in advance with no investigation. We’re going to war.

We’ll investigate later. We go to war now. It took…

GR: 9-11 Commission and took them about 411 days to finally get it going.

RG: That’s it. That’s what I was looking for. Of course, Netanyahu’s saying the same thing.

It’s still no investigation, right? Parallel 14, we have the occupation of the territory of the new enemy. This is the land grab. Of course, we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq that we’ll talk about.

In the case of 9-11, we’ll see the objectives for invading Gaza that pre-existed 10-7 by decades, actually. Parallel 15 is the widening of the conflict. We’re seeing that now with the provocation of Iran by Israel, with the assassination of key Hezbollah and Iranian military members, and consummating in the 180 missiles that rained down last night on Israel.

Inevitably, we’re going to see an even larger escalation by Israel because that is the original goal, which we will take a look at in detail. Parallel 16, we have the effecting of regime change of the enemy leadership. That’s one of the goals.

Of course, Hamas will not be allowed to exist anymore. Well, we’ve found that Hamas was a creature of Israel and the Mossad having been formed and funded by them as long ago as 2006 as a foil against the Palestinian Liberation Organization at the time, which was looking for a two-state solution. Parallel 17, they enact a forever war policy, and that’s what we’re getting now.

A year on, the invasion of Gaza is not ending. The invasion’s small scale at first here with Lebanon, again, for the third time invading Lebanon, and then now with the widening and forever war policy that was a cold war with Iran that’s now, of course, becoming quite hot. Parallel 18, we’ve got billions flowing to the where? The media, the banking industry, the war industries.

We’ve got 8 billion here, 3 billion there, 3 billion every year to Israel since God knows when, decades, but now 8 billion and part of a 14 billion plan. This is, of course, going on in Ukraine too, which was not the subject of our conversation today, but it’s never ending. We have Parallel 19, extreme censorship of the public by the government, the mainstream media, and even social media now, whose grip has become quite tenacious with YouTube.

I’ve lost five channels myself just trying to talk about the truth about 9-11 YouTube channels. That is incredible in terms of the depth of censorship the Israelis are putting upon their media and their people with laws having been put on the books that you can’t demoralize the troops with counter arguments to the state narrative. And then, draconian policies and surveillance instituted by government.

Parallel 20, this creates the surveillance state, particularly in light of 9-11, where all of our emails, our phone calls, our texts are systematically swept up, unconstitutionally stored for use against us in Salt Lake City. Later, we have Parallel 21, malevolent roots that go back more than 250 years, giving rise to these massive problems created by leadership that’s been installed under false pretenses in each case. The Project for a New American Century in the case of recently, just prior to 9-11, the neocon think tank that we’re going to talk about.

So, we find that these false official accounts are rather incredible, like false official accounts. Yet another parallel we haven’t even mentioned, but what we show is that the planes and jet fuel could not have caused the Twin Towers to collapse or Building 7, which wasn’t even hit by a plane. We show this again and again, as you and I have discussed over the years, Michael, in our documentary, 9-11 Explosive Evidence Experts Speak Out.

So, we have evidence like that. We have evidence of molten metal in the pile underneath all three buildings, evidence of molten metal, specifically iron, the byproduct of thermite, elemental iron, in all the World Trade Center dust. And that evidence goes on and on and on into the 9-11 commission that says they were set up to fail, that there was a decision not to tell the people the truth about what really happened at 9-11.

And now, jumping to parallel number one, we see clearly that there are previously established and geostrategic goals coveting the natural resources of the target territory. This is fascinating. For instance, relative to 9-11, we have the Project for a New American Century, establishing in their paper, America rebuilds, regional hegemony in the Middle East, a vast increase in the Pentagon budget.

But, they said, absent a catalyzing and catastrophic event, like a new Pearl Harbor, these goals will take a long time to achieve. And so, Bush writes in his diary that night, today we had our new Pearl Harbor. Well, the Project for a New American Century, PNAC, had their own website, which they established prior to 9-11.

This group of neocons in this think tank called for a hundred billion dollar increase in the Pentagon budget. And many of them, interestingly, were dual citizens, if not most Israeli and U.S. citizens. So, what loyalty are they bringing when they were brought in by the Bush administration and created that new Pearl Harbor that they were calling for and managed the project, 9-11?

GR: Well, I mean, I think our listeners are already familiar, very familiar by now with a lot of the issues around, you know, how they used, you know, that basically the war on Afghanistan and the war on terror generally, it was kind of convenient in terms of getting, you know, having this, I guess, it was an established geostrategic goal.

I think that maybe we’re a little less aware of the role of Israel, like, because they’re going into Gaza and possibly beyond. Can you spend a little bit more time talking about the angle there in terms of the attack and what they’re doing?

RG: So, one of the interesting, fascinating points is that General Wesley Clark actually admitted on a media interview that their goal was to take out seven countries in five years. And I’m saying this in answer to your question because these countries that they wanted to take out, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran are the enemies of Israel.

So, the foreign policy is quite interconnected. And we have the desire of Israel, in particular, to take out Iran, right, which is about to happen. And so, we put in Afghanistan, we invaded Afghanistan to the northeast and Iraq to the southwest as part of that plan and occupied Afghanistan for 20 years, the longest war in U.S. history.

As a part of a goal, what are the inceptions of this goal? Well, let’s just look at Palestine and the history. We have from the 14th century to the 20th century, primarily Muslims and Christians occupying this area of the Palestine. Well, it became the Palestine mandate when the British took over, but it only had two percent Jewish population.

And then the Ottoman Empire falls and we have, after World War I, this British mandate and a growing desire for Jews to emigrate to the area. And so, the father of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl, from 1860 to 1904, is quoted as saying, now this is the inception of Zionism, at least as it became more publicly known, he says, what we must expropriate gently the private property on the state assigned to us. He’s anticipating a state being assigned, right? This is before the Balfour Declaration of 1917.

This is before 1904 that he says this. This statement and many others make it really apparent that the transfer of the Palestinian-era population along with the accompanying apartheid policy seem to be inherent in Zionism from its inception. So, interestingly, the territorial ambitions of the Zionists appear to have exceeded that of Palestine alone.

And so, the promise was by Rothschild, Lord Walter Lionel, Second Baron Rothschild, to bring America in to save England in their losing war with Germany, if the British would create a homeland for the Jewish people, which they promised to do here in 1917. And sure enough, Americans were tricked into entering World War I through yet another false flag operation, the sinking of the Lusitania. So, we have a set of real problems that ensued, as you can imagine.

Avi Shlaim of the University of Oxford says, the absurdity of the 1917 Balfour Declaration in denying national rights to the 90 percent majority at the time, Palestinians, and granting it to the 10 percent minority, the Jews. So, one nation, Britain, says Arthur Kessler, promised the country of another people, the Palestinians, to a third people, the Jews. It’s one of the most improbable political documents of all time.

And in fact, it’s 67 words long, yet it launched what is broadly seen today as the world’s most intractable conflict. So, recognize that 10-7 did not start on October 7th. The problems associated started way, way back in the inception of Zionism itself.

And if we begin to look at what happened with the UN plan, which came along in 1946, and it was a plan, not a legal document. And yet, when it came out, it in effect gave half, or promised half, of the country of what became Israel to the Jewish people, and the other half, another state, to the Palestinian people. So, they lost almost half their land right off the bat, right? But since then, we’ve had the Six-Day War, which Israel confiscated almost 80 percent of the land, and today, 90 to 95 percent of the land because of all the settler activity and the ensuing violence that’s happened.

So, the strategic goals of greater Israel have, in fact, been achieved virtually inside of Israel, but they say, author Israel Shahak of Global Research points out, that the greater Israel constitutes the cornerstone of powerful Zionist factions within the current Netanyahu government, the Likud party, as well as within Israel military and intelligence establishment. So, for instance, the Yinon plan came out in 1982, a continuation of Britain’s colonial design in the Middle East, essentially, says Mahdi Nazemroaya. And it’s an Israeli strategic plan that it does what? It ensures Israeli regional superiority.

It insists and stipulates that Israel must reconfigure its geopolitical environment through the balkanization of the surrounding Arab states into smaller and weaker states. This is a plan that has become the guiding document and from which they draw inspiration as well as policy. We’ve seen those policies carried out with the war, but it didn’t with the wars that have happened, especially the current one.

GR: I know that a lot of the parallels you mentioned essentially said that basically that the Israelis knew that this was going to happen.

And we’ve been through that with the 9-11 stuff. Could you maybe take me a couple of the more telling examples of how the Israelis actually knew that the attacks were going to happen and let it happen on purpose?

RG: They had foreknowledge, not just from Egypt, but other foreign countries, intelligence ministries of a big attack, right? And it’s coming. And so Netanyahu was warned personally by one of the major leaders in Egypt.

We also have the 40-page document that the New York Times revealed that laid out the exact plan that Hamas followed later. And Israel had this a year before the plan. Their own border guards were screaming at all of the activity they saw on the wall in the weeks and months prior to 9-11, excuse me, to 10-7.

And these attacks were being planned and there were exercises being done attacking the wall itself. And so on the morning of, there’s embedded reporters, foreknowledge, embedded with Hamas, who were reporters who had worked with the Reuters, with CNN and AP. And they came in with Hamas and taking all these great pictures, and yet they didn’t report anything.

This is, of course, an incredible body of foreknowledge. And so we also have foreknowledge in terms of the original strategic goal of the natural gas assets just offshore of Gaza that have been reported on Global Research, where there are in fact 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas discovered more than two decades ago and 71 billion dollars in oil. Altogether about 453 billion in profits, which the UN says belongs to the Palestinian people because it’s right offshore of Gaza.

But Israel has claimed these resources and their energy minister even says this positions Israel as the key global player in energy. We’re going to be exporting Israeli natural gas to Europe. Needless to say, this has created quite a stir, but not achieving notoriety or exposure in the mainstream media.

A CNN descreve o ataque de mísseis iranianos contra Israel da seguinte forma: “O Irã lançou seu maior ataque de todos os tempos contra Israel, disparando 200 mísseis balísticos em uma barragem sem precedentes, em grande parte neutralizada pelas defesas israelenses com a ajuda dos Estados Unidos. Uma pessoa foi morta no ataque”. Confirmando assim que a ação do Irã foi uma ação demonstrativa com quase nenhum efeito militar. Israel, por outro lado, prepara-se para uma “retaliação” destrutiva e declara o secretário-geral da ONU, Guterres, como “Persona Non Grata” porque ele “não condenou o ataque de mísseis do Irã contra Israel com força suficiente”.

Se Israel – considerado culpado pelo Tribunal Internacional de Justiça da ONU por genocídio contra os palestinos – pode anular qualquer autoridade das Nações Unidas da qual é membro, se pode continuar o genocídio impunemente até mesmo na Cisjordânia para acabar com o Estado palestino de uma vez por todas, é porque tem o apoio dos EUA, da OTAN e da UE como parte de uma estratégia concertada. Há um ano, no episódio de 7 de outubro intitulado “O 11 de setembro do Oriente Médio”, argumentamos, com base em documentação precisa, que esse era “um cenário semelhante ao ataque terrorista a Nova York e Washington em 11 de setembro de 2001, uma operação realmente realizada pela CIA (provavelmente também com a participação do Mossad) para desencadear a guerra global contra o terror com a invasão do Afeganistão e do Iraque e as guerras subsequentes”.

Em seguida, concluímos: “Algo semelhante está acontecendo hoje em Israel, cujo sistema de inteligência e defesa inteiro seria pego de surpresa pelo ataque do Hamas. O objetivo estratégico da operação, certamente, não é apenas exterminar os palestinos e tomar seus últimos territórios. É desencadear, tendo como alvo o Irã, uma reação em cadeia de guerras em um Oriente Médio onde os EUA, Israel e as potências europeias estão perdendo terreno.” A reação em cadeia já está em andamento: Israel – armado e apoiado principalmente pelos Estados Unidos, que emprega uma força militar crescente no Oriente Médio – não apenas continua a destruição da Palestina, mas estende a guerra ao Líbano, Iêmen, Síria e Iraque.

O alvo central continua sendo o Irã, que é ainda mais importante hoje: tendo se juntado ao BRICS, do qual a Rússia e a China são membros, ele é agora um entroncamento fundamental do Corredor Norte-Sul construído pela Rússia em resposta ao bloqueio do Ocidente e, ao mesmo tempo, um entroncamento fundamental da Nova Rota da Seda promovida pela China.

Os Estados Unidos e as potências europeias, sem a capacidade de combater esses projetos que abalam sua posição dominante em uma região estrategicamente importante com meios políticos e econômicos, recorrem à guerra usando Israel como ponta de lança.

Nesse cenário, o discurso de Julian Assange no Conselho Europeu em Estrasburgo, que a correspondente Berenice Galli relata no final deste episódio, ganha importância adicional.

Manlio Dinucci

Breve resumo da análise da imprensa internacional do Grandangolo na sexta-feira, 4 de Outubro de 2024, no canal de TV italiano Byoblu:

https://www.byoblu.com/2024/10/04/chi-ha-innescato-la-reazione-a-catena-in-medio-oriente-grandangolo-pangea/

Tradução : Mondialisation.ca 

VIDEO (em italiano) :

We see for the first time since the general strikes of 1937 the potential for labor action in the United States to take on directly the means of production and transportation that are dominated by global finance and that form the cancer at the heart of our diseased economy.

Such strikes could potentially become the focal points for a mass movement against the grotesque merger of global finance, class warfare, and militarism that has created, over the last thirty years, a complete dictatorship of trusts and private equity.

Although the focus of the individual workers involved in the strikes falls on the preservation of their jobs, nevertheless, many workers have made statements in recent days that indicate a growing awareness of how their actions serve as a vanguard in the resistance to techno-tyranny, the rule of corporations, the militarization of our society, and the drive for world war.

If for no other reason, we should stand with them for this cause. Their brave efforts offer a way forward beyond the complaining and identity politics that have crippled critiques of the current system.

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1934 ILA strike that revolutionized labor in the US

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The strike began on October 1,  when 45,000 dockworkers of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) walked off the job. The scale of this strike was so large that it became the first large-scale organized resistance to the techno-fascist fusion of corporations, banks, and government that runs the country, and that impoverishes us every time we buy milk at the supermarket, every time we pay a phone bill, and every time our internet services are mysteriously altered.

The strike spread to thirty-five ports on the East and Gulf coasts, including New York-New Jersey, Houston, Savannah and Charleston. Efforts to support the strike by dockworkers in Canada and Mexico were also underway. How far the struggle will go depends on many factors, not the least of which is the commitment of all citizens to economic justice.

The dockworkers joined forces with strikers at Boeing factories who are taking on the largest of the merchants of death. 33,000 Boeing workers have been on strike for three weeks after refusing a crippling a contract agreed to by their pro-corporate leadership. The workers at Boeing have been joined by striking workers at other military contractors such as Textron Aviation and Eaton Aerospace.

Boeing is the leading proponent of endless war and its lobbyists and agents have their fingerprints all over the current drive for world war and nuclear war in Ukraine and Lebanon. It was unthinkable, even a few months ago, that this all-powerful bemouth could be challenged from within.

These two strikes took on global trade and military production simultaneously thus offering the possibility of a fundamental shift in American politics—one driven by the realization that we face the real possibility of world war abroad and totalitarian rule at home.

Any workers who defy the ruthless system of global trade, logistics, distribution, and retail that is controlled by a handful of multinational corporations and who, the same time take, on the weapons manufacturers who push for war, deserve our full support.

The ILA launched into a full-throttled strike on October 1, and it gained support in Mexico and Canada, and even started discussions about sympathy strikes elsewhere in the United States that could lead to the first massive strike impacting vital infrastructure since the 1930s, and they were prepared to do so at precisely the moment that world war looms, at precisely the moment that labor is supposed to bow down to the fake political process dominated by private equity. Then, out of the blue, yesterday, October 3, the ILA released a bland and laconic public statement that a “tentative agreement on wages” has been reached and that all have “agreed to extend the Master Contract until January 15, 2025.”

The real reason for this extraordinary turn of events is not hard to find. The ILA released a statement on October 2, the  day before, that detailed how President Harold Daggett, and other senior union leaders, had been subject to numerous death threats, and how the New York Post attacked Daggett while offering his home address and photographs of his home to anyone wishing to do violence. 

We citizens must quickly grasp the revolutionary implications of these strikes and we must realize the full potential of such resistance before the hatchmen of the billionaires pull us apart using identity politics, false-flag operations, threats, and the corrosive narcissism of self-centered consumption. The fact that the powers that be have ruthlessly shut down the ILA strike is not a reason to be discouraged, but rather a casus belli  to extend the struggle further.

I give my full support to these strikes, these efforts to oppose totalitarian corporate rule, and I call on all citizens to support the strikers, and other resistance in the United States, to the unconstitutional, immoral, and illegal rule of the plutocrats.

I do not claim to represent the striking workers in what I am about to say. I realize that many of them are naturally focused on trying to save their jobs and feed their children, and therefore are hesitant to grab the parasitic monsters who prey on them by the horns. But our focus, my focus, must be perforce on identifying the underlying causes and proposing a comprehensive solution.

There are different strands to the war against the citizens of the United States which are intertwined in the conditions that brought on these strikes. Those strands must be separated out and discussed so that we can understand what the workers, and all of us, are up against.

The Deadly Reign of Free Trade

The strikes at loading docks across the United States are linked to the destruction of the means of production for goods and food by multinational corporations, the imposition of a money economy that is controlled by multinational banks, and the enforcement of a dictatorship for trade, logistics, distribution, commercial sales, and advertising that has been carried out brutally under the banner of “free trade.” “Free trade” is the modern equivalent of “freedom is slavery” and “war is peace.” “Free trade” is a totalitarian economic system for controlling the transportation of goods around the world that destroys local economies here and there and forces dependency on supply chains that are owned by the rich.

Shipping firms like Mærsk, COSCO Shipping, Hapag-Lloyd AG, and Nippon Yusen take a pound of flesh from every transaction, from everything that we buy. They compel us to buy products that multinationals produce by destroying local communities on the other side of the world. These firms work in cahoots with distribution companies like Kuehne + Nagel, DHL, and SYX to make sure that multinationals control all production around the world. They also collaborate with massive retailers like Walmart, Amazon, Costco, and Walgreens to make sure that nothing is for sale from which multinational corporations do get their pound of flesh. They tax us indirectly even more than does the Federal government.

Automation

The front line of the battle undertaken by the dockworkers in their negotiations with USMX (United States Maritime Alliance) is the rejection of the complete automation of the systems for transporting and processing containers so as to create an economic system for production and distribution that contains no workers. This scheme is part of a greater drive to create a nightmare world wherein all labor is reduced to “useless eaters” that can be slowly contained, impoverished, and then eliminated.

The false praise of automation, and of technology as a whole, as means to improve the lives of all when in fact it is a weapon for the rich that is explicitly focused on destroying the lives of workers, is one of the most pernicious lies propagated by the elite.

The automation of logistics is linked to the drive to implement radical digitalization of the economy and to transfer all commands and governance to the black box tyranny known as “AI,” a false god under whose capricious rule every decision that is made to destroy the lives of citizens is attributed to the rational calculations of supercomputers.

The use technology to replace workers, or to drive down their salaries, is justified by treasonous intellectuals as being the result some inevitable “fourth industrial revolution.”

The resistance against automation and the digitalization of the workplace made by dockworkers today will be our battle tomorrow. Our battle against this technological and economic assault on our lives, our work, and our bodies is at least as serious in import as the battle against chattel slavery in the 1850s and 1860s.

Wages and Living

The push to reduce workers’ wages and benefits, while the multinational corporations that control trade, distribution, and retail sales are able to make vast fortunes for stockholders, is the reason that workers in the United States face such a bleak future.

The calculation of the health of the economy in terms of the profits of corporations, rather than in terms of the long-term well-being of citizens is an equally pernicious defense of the destruction of our livelihoods. 

A Military Economy and the Export of Weapons

Although the strikes at the docks where weapons are loaded onto ships to be transported to Israel and Ukraine, the strikes at the Boeing factories that manufacture the weapons, and the growing anti-war movement led by citizens who wish to stop the drive for world war are not integrated as a single movement for peace and an egalitarian society yet—they could easily merge in precisely such a manner.

Moreover, recent statements by workers on strike suggest that such a convergence is close at hand in light of the horrific drive for world war by bankrupt politicians who serve their financial masters. In any case, it is clear that the strikes are driven by the workers themselves, and not their leadership, and that they workers manifest an increasing self-awareness and historical awareness.

To be honest, the specifics of the contracts for the longshoremen are less critical for us than the potential for a highly organized and effective mass movement against both war and plutocracy, one that unifies hundreds of thousands of people and makes clear for the working woman and working man the relationship between the concentration of wealth, the drive for war, the control of the means of production and distribution, and economic suffering of workers.

No boutique anti-war gatherings on the Upper West Side will ever have such impact.

We must join forces with the striking workers to create an anti-war, anti-technocracy, and anti-plutocracy movement that will transform our society in a fundamental sense, and will establish peace, human agency and liberty, and egalitarianism as the primary goal of our nation. Corporate profits and the assets of billionaires should not be the concern of our government, of our newspapers, or of our civil society in determining our direction forward.

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Watch the video here

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on the author’s Substack.

Dr. Emanuel Pastreich served as the president of the Asia Institute, a think tank with offices in Washington DC, Seoul, Tokyo and Hanoi. Pastreich also serves as director general of the Institute for Future Urban Environments. Pastreich declared his candidacy for president of the United States as an independent in February, 2020.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research.  

Featured image is by Richard Burkhart, Savannah Morning News Via USA TODAY Network

Many important types of intelligence besides “intellectual intelligence exist.” Without them, we cannot connect to our deeper wisdom and are easily lead astray. Likewise, if our intelligence remains unbalanced, our knowledge will almost always be patchy and incomplete

A century ago, American education was hijacked by oligarchs like Rockefeller who replaced cultivating critical thinking and deep knowledge with training widespread compliance

Education trains us to have a very linear form of intelligence which often misses critical details because it lacks the ability to see the broader picture. This for instance characterizes many problems in medicine

Those trained to have excessive left brain thinking are often challenging to have a dialog with because they are both aggressive in asserting their ideology and simultaneously incapable of seeing anything which does not prove they are right

This article will discuss the importance of balanced intelligence and strategies for cultivating it

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Throughout history, many different types of intelligence have been recognized (e.g., physical intelligence and coordination or emotional intelligence). In contrast, our society worships a very specific type of intellectual intelligence that as far as I know has never previously been so highly valued by a society.

In my own experience, I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve interacted with who I know are much smarter than me, yet when I compare and contrast our ability to get things done, to correctly interpret data we are exposed to, help patients, or live a happy life, I come out far ahead of them. Likewise, I’ve lost count of how smart people I’ve met who simply don’t “get it” and frequently are misled by something quite obvious.

Years ago, when I discussed these experiences with a spiritual teacher (as I was frustrated with how easily many of my medical colleagues were being misled) and was told to stop getting upset because “intelligence does not equate to being resistant to mind control.”

Modern Education

I’ve long noticed that the educational system builds up a very specific type of intelligence and reciprocally destroys the other ones (e.g., I found the more I was “educated” the more I lost the ability to think and access the deeper capacities of my mind). Because of this, at each level of my education, I was initially an enthusiastic A student, but then become disillusioned, switched to self-study, and in many cases barely passed my classes.

Note: Discovering how to bio-hack the sleep cycle to rapidly memorize large volumes of information was what essentially allowed me to largely boycott the educational system but simultaneously get through it.

That skill set was immensely valuable during my medical training as it allowed me to devote myself to learning what would help my patients rather than be swallowed by the allopathic model. Likewise, both college and medical school followed a similar script. They only wanted you to replicate exactly what your teacher had shown you and harshly reprimanded ever presenting an independent approach to the problem.

Note: Numerous medical school deans and residency directors I’ve spoken have lamented that the newer crops of medical school graduates lack the critical thinking which is needed for them to effectively function as doctors during medical residency — yet they simultaneously fail to recognize how their own actions are removing critical thinking from their trainees.

Ultimately, I was driven by a deep yearning for as much knowledge as possible. Since you’ll never have enough time to study everything, I gradually realized:

The Transformation of Modern Education

Over the last century, there’s been a systematic dismantling of the educational system as its focus shifted from creating an empowered electorate to producing subservient citizens who only existed to fill their pre-designated societal roles. To illustrate:

I believe these points explain why we keep spending more money (and years of schooling) on education, yet have worse and worse outcomes (not unlike modern medicine). Likewise, much of my success as a student came from a desire to develop my mind and the recognition the schooling processes was frequently counterproductive to that — ultimately leading me to seek out the style of education I much later learned pioneers like Gatto and Illich had also advocated for.

Note: Vaccines also provide a critical facet of this picture as the microstrokes and autoimmunity they create frequently create neurological injuries. In turn, suppressed data shows vaccination has profoundly altered the minds of America (e.g., the particularly dangerous DTwP vaccine was released, a wave of misbehavior, developmental delay and violence rippled through the country as each vaccinated generation grew up), forcing the educational system to completely restructure itself. Sadly, this happened so long ago those changes have now been normalized and forgotten.

Counterproductive Cognitive Algorithms

Two approaches are often used to solve problems:

Note: I’ve also observed that the widespread neurological damage from mass vaccination predisposes those injured to “left brained thinking”.

Many in turn have argued excessive left brain thinking (which schooling drills into us) is the root cause of many ills in our society. I agree and believe balanced left and right brain thinking is essential for our society (e.g., this is why I try to show both the forest and trees while I write).

The problem with left brain thinking is that it tends to lock one into a “solution” which excludes the best answer from being considered. For example, in medicine, I frequently see brilliant doctors who are remarkably skilled at executing their clinical algorithms but cannot help patients their algorithms simply aren’t applicable for.

Likewise, I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve debated with whose logic starts from the premise there is no conceivable way any viewpoint besides their own could be right (which inevitably results in them concocting absurd arguments).

Note: This is somewhat analogous to a hamster trapped in a cage with a hamster wheel. If the hamster does what it knows to do (run on the hamster wheel) no matter how fast it goes, it will never be able to escape the cage, whereas if the hamster got off the wheel it could see an exit and leave the cage.

In turn, when I watch how people’s minds often as they try to execute a flawed algorithm they were given to solve a vexing problem they face, it often seems as though a wheel in their brain is working in overdrive in a futile attempt to solve that problem.

Debating Cognitive Algorithms

I’ve gotten into more debates than I can count with ardent defenders of the orthodoxy. In each case, I’ve noticed three salient features:

In turn, whenever I observe these behaviors, I often will send them one of my favorite articles on the subject — Stanovich’s “Cognitive Sophistication Does Not Attenuate the Bias Blind Spot.”⁶

Blindspots, for reference encompass errors in reasoning where someone has an inherent bias that causes them to miss something which is otherwise obvious (e.g., the hamster is so focused on its wheel it cannot leave the cage) and that in many cases, the presence of blindspots appears to be a consequence of them not wanting to make the effort to think through a problem and instead simply asserting the first thing that jumps to mind.

The paper⁷ highlights a key facet of blindspots — while people are very good at recognizing them in others, they typically cannot see their own blindspots. Additionally, as Stanovich showed, individuals who demonstrate one type of blindspot are more likely to demonstrate other types of blindspots.

Most importantly, cognitively sophisticated individuals (“intelligent” people) aren’t protected from falling prey to these biases, and if anything, are more likely to engage in them. Here are two examples:

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

Notes

^1, 2, 3 Free To Thrive, June 16, 2012

⁴ The Sun, June 1990

⁵ Deschooling Society, 1970 (Archived)

^6, 7, 10 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 103.3 (2012): 506 (Archived)

⁸ The Scientist, October 1, 2020

⁹ X, David Gorski, MD, PhD, May 26, 2020

Ukrainian military personnel now on the front line, fearing an eternal conflict, are in favour of talks with Russia, the Financial Times reported. The article predicts that Ukraine is approaching the “darkest hour” of the conflict, admitting that the Ukrainian army is losing on the battlefield to Russia, which is advancing relentlessly.

“Right now, I’m thinking more about how to save my people,” said Mykhailo Temper. “It’s quite hard to imagine we will be able to move the enemy back to the borders of 1991,” the Ukrainian battalion commander added.

Another commander also told the newspaper that he is now in favour of negotiations with Russia, adding that he fears that “his grandson might one day inherit an endless conflict.”

An officer of the 72nd Mechanised Brigade operating in Kurakhove said: “If the US turns off the spigot, we’re finished.”

Furthermore, it is confirmed that “the arbitrary military mobilisation system” increases social tensions in the country. The article quoted Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, admitting that “society is exhausted.”

The Financial Times also noted a change in Ukrainian officials’ approach to resolving the conflict and cited European diplomats who attended the UN General Assembly and said that Ukraine’s new Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha‎, discussed possible compromise options for resolving the conflict with Western counterparts during his recent trip to the US.

They stressed that Sibiga was more pragmatic about the possibility of territorial concessions than his predecessor, Dmitry Kuleba.

“We’re talking more and more openly about how this ends and what Ukraine would have to give up in order to get a permanent peace deal. And that’s a major change from even six months ago, when this kind of talk was taboo,” one of the diplomats said, adding that six months ago, such conversations were taboo in Kiev.

Nonetheless, according to Zelensky, October would be “decision time” since he will once again prepare to seek permission to hit targets inside Russia with Western weapons.

“It’s about constraining Russia’s capabilities” to pressure Moscow to open talks, a senior Ukrainian official told the newspaper. “It’s a real chance if we are thinking about solving this war.”

This is disingenuous from the Kiev regime, though, since it is they who have outlawed peace negotiations with the Kremlin.

It is recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would immediately agree to a ceasefire and declare readiness for negotiations after the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the new Russian regions. Furthermore, he added, Kiev must declare its renunciation of intentions to join NATO, adopt a neutral, non-aligned, and nuclear-free status, and lift sanctions against Russia. However, despite these generous terms, the Kiev regime, headed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, has not seriously shown intention of beginning peace discussions with the Kremlin.

The Financial Times highlighted that the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in a summer poll found that 57% of respondents believed Ukraine should engage in peace negotiations with Russia, up from 33% a year earlier.

“The survey showed the war was taking an ever heavier toll: 77% of respondents reported the loss of family members, friends or acquaintances, four times as many as two years earlier. Two-thirds said they were finding it difficult or very difficult to live on their wartime income,” the outlet reported.

According to a KIIS poll conducted in May, 55% of Ukrainians oppose the cession of territory to Russia as part of a peace deal. Nonetheless, even though 55% still constitutes a majority, it is a dramatic drop from 87% early last year.

“People want peace but they are also against territorial concessions. It is hard to reconcile them,” said Merezhko.

Ukraine cannot expel Russia from any territory captured, especially now that the Ukrainian army is slowly retreating from Donbass. Realistically, the best Ukraine can get is what is proposed by US Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance, who pushes for establishing a lasting ceasefire along the current lines. If not, Kiev could end up with much less. However, this is only possible at Moscow’s indiscretion, not Vance’s.

Even if Moscow would be open to Vance’s suggestions, the Kiev regime is yet to give any serious indication that it is prepared to engage in negotiations with Russia and still insists on delusional terms in their ten-point peace plan, which, among others, calls for the return of all territory and the arrest of many Russian officials.

These are terms that the Kremlin will obviously reject, especially since the Russian military is in control of the battlefield. Meanwhile, while the Kiev regime insists on imposing delusional terms that it does not have the power to enforce, Ukrainian soldiers like Temper will continue to die.

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Birds Not Bombs: Let’s Fight for a World of Peace, Not War 

This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research. 

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