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Best of the Web: Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye: Truces, not peace

Hasan Illaik
The Cradle
Tue, 04 Apr 2023 12:00 UTC
syria saudi arabia turkiye turkey yemen
© The CradleAs reconciliation efforts sweep through West Asia to mend ties between old foes, the new China- and Russia-brokered deals will not usher in real peace until the US stops prolonging conflict
The mid-March Moscow summit between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was notable for being publicized in advance. Since the outbreak of the Syrian war, Assad's foreign visits have not been publicly revealed until after they have occurred. This small but significant detail suggests the Syrian president has a newfound confidence in the political and security conditions outside his national borders.

While the participants kept a tight lid on leaks, informed sources from both Moscow and Damascus disclosed to The Cradle that the Syrian and Russian presidents discussed the following issues:

Economic ties: With a focus on Syria's energy sector, Putin expressed Russia's readiness to invest in the production of electricity in the Levantine state, which post-conflict, suffers from a 75 percent deficit in production. Putin also expressed Moscow's willingness to help Syria meet its vital grain needs.

Comment: See also: Pepe Escobar: String of pearls: Yemen could be the Arab hub of the Maritime Silk Road

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Fire

Fire rips through building near Kremlin as Putin held talks with Belarus President Lukashenko

Christian Oliver
Daily Mail
Wed, 05 Apr 2023 18:58 UTC
fire defence moscow
Smoke was gushing from third floor windows in a defence ministry building at 19 Znamenka Street, Moscow
A fire ripped through the Russian Ministry of Defence tonight, just a short distance from the Kremlin.

The blaze broke out as Vladimir Putin was holding talks with the Belarusian despot Alexander Lukashenko.


Comment: Lukashenko is the President of Belarus who, just a few years ago the West was courting for partnership, until Lukashenko turned down the Covid bribes to lockdown his country and then signaled his alliance with Russia.


Dark smoke was seen gushing from the third-floor windows in the defence ministry headquarters at 19 Znamenka Street. Footage shared by state media outlets on social media showed a plume of spiraling smoke. Around 50 people were evacuated as flames ripped through the headquarters.

Emergency services arrived and the small blaze was put out shortly after it started. There were no casualties, the Russian TASS news agency reported.

Comment: Below is just a selection of some of the suspicious fires and explosions reported in Russia of late:

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Arrow Down

On the collapse of Antiquity and the Bank Panic

Michael Hudson
The Unz Review
Sun, 02 Apr 2023 17:26 UTC
danny haiphong michael hudson economist
The Left Lens' Danny Haiphong (L) Economist Michael Hudson (R)
The following is a transcript of Danny Haiphong's interview with economist Michael Hudson on Haiphong's The Left Lens YouTube channel. They discuss the US banking sector collapse and the deep connections between global economy and geopolitics.

***

DANNY HAIPHONG: Good afternoon everyone, good afternoon. You are tuning in to another episode of The Left Lens. How are you all doing this afternoon?

I am joined by Economist Michael Hudson, as you can see here. I am very honored to have him. How are you doing this afternoon, Michael?

MICHAEL HUDSON: Pretty good. The weather is nice. The sun is shining.

DANNY HAIPHONG: Indeed, indeed. So we have a lot to get to. So everyone, you know what to do. Be sure to like the stream as you're coming in. Hit that share button and share it around where you can. Subscribe to this channel. And of course if you want to support this channel you know where to go. Go to the links in the description, patreon.com/dannyhaiphong being the best place.

But let's get right to it, Michael. I'm going to pull up — you have a new book that has recently released called The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilization's Oligarchic Turning Point.

I'm going to pull up your website. Everyone can find this link in the description of this video. But this book traces the roots of this creditor oligarchy.

Right now there is this banking collapse. We've had a few banks in the United States collapse. There's a lot of concern after Credit Suisse was absorbed by UBS, the Swiss bank.

And there's a lot of worry in the financial markets, among these large monopoly creditors. What is going on, and how does your book help us understand how we got to this place?
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Binoculars

The World Economic Forum and the West's next act?

J.B. Shurk
Gatestone Institute
Wed, 22 Mar 2023 05:00 UTC
Western governments
© Hebestreit/Bundesregierung via Getty ImagesWestern governments are filled to the brim with people entirely lacking in real-world experience or specialized knowledge. In recent decades, a noticeable trend in the West has been to elevate politicians, as young and inexperienced as possible, into offices as high as possible. Pictured: National leaders, including US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau strike a deep, contemplative pose at the G20 summit on November 16, 2022 in Nusa Dua, Indonesia.
If you are a consumer today, inflation is only one of the problems harming you. As prices go up, quality continues to go down. What most stores have to offer you might crassly be called "cheap crap." In fact, economic writer Charles Hugh Smith has repeatedly warned that the "crapification" of the U.S. economy is the natural result of a "neoliberal-hyper-financialization-hyper-globalization model," in which quasi-monopolist manufacturers mass-produce goods with the cheapest possible components, while customers with scant other buying options are forced to accept that few purchases will last.

"Planned obsolescence," combined with a free market "in name only," creates a rigged system in which downstream consumers are forced to pay more over time, while owning little that will maintain value for long. Appliances that used to work for decades now barely make it through legally required warranty periods. Metal tools that could be passed from one generation to the next now tend to rust before they can be used on more than a handful of jobs. When expensive electronic devices survive more than two years, cash-strapped households breathe a sigh of relief. Just about anybody who is old enough to remember the 9/11 terrorist attacks can tell a story about some product that was so much cheaper, yet so much more reliable, when it was purchased long ago.
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Better Earth

How Russia sees its role in the construction of the multipolar world

Thierry Meyssan
Voltairenet.org
Tue, 04 Apr 2023 00:07 UTC
Putinvid
© UnknownRussian President Vladimir Putin • Video Conference
Russia has just published its "Foreign Policy Concept". After recalling its position in the world, this document describes the end of Western domination and the efforts of the United States and its allies to maintain the hegemony of Washington. It lists Moscow's interests and goals. It emphasizes the primacy of contemporary international law (a creation of Tsar Nicholas II) and concludes with a description of the changing world.

President Vladimir Putin met with his Security Council via video conference on March 31, 2023. At the end of this meeting, he promulgated an update of the "Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation".

In this document, Russia sets out its vision of its role in building a multipolar world.

First of all, Russia recalls its significant resources in all spheres of life, its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, its participation in major international organizations and associations, its nuclear power and its status as the successor in rights of the USSR. Above all, given its decisive contribution to the victory in World War II and its active participation in the liquidation of the world system of colonialism, it asserts itself as one of the sovereign centers of world development and considers as its historical mission the maintenance of the global balance of power and the construction of a multipolar international system.
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Padlock

Biden aide Kathy Chung refutes classified docs 'locked closet' spin: Comer

Steven Nelson
New York Post
Tue, 04 Apr 2023 08:31 UTC
Biden Penn
© AP/KJNUS President Joe Biden • Penn Biden Center, University of Pennsylvania
President Biden's former assistant contradicted White House claims that classified documents discovered at Biden's post-vice presidency DC office this past November were in a "locked closet" — and revealed the White House sought to quietly retrieve the papers, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Tuesday.

Comer (R-Ky.) added in a statement that Chung, who sat for an interview with the panel, "provided startling information that undermines the Biden White House's narrative on the matter."
"Today we learned that when Joe Biden left the vice presidency, boxes containing classified documents, vice presidential records, and other items were stored in three different locations around the Washington, DC, area, including an office near the White House, an office in Chinatown, and eventually the Penn Biden Center.

"At some point, the boxes containing classified materials were transported by personal vehicles to an office location.

"The boxes were not in a 'locked closet' at the Penn Biden Center and remained accessible to Penn Biden employees as well as potentially others with access to the office space. We need to find out who had access to these documents."
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Dollar

Leonardo DiCaprio testifies that CCP-linked Malaysian financier, now a fugitive, sent $30 million to Obama during 2012 campaign

C.G.Jones
The Post Millennial
Wed, 05 Apr 2023 00:00 UTC
DiCaprico/Obama
© UnknownActor Leonardo DiCaprio • Former US President Barack Obama
Movie star Leonardo DiCaprio took the stand in a federal trial on Monday that seeks to hammer down the details of what appears to be a money-funneling scheme that features a Malaysian financier funneling tens of millions of dollars through a prominent 90s rap artist for the purpose of donating to former President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.

DiCaprio plays into the saga because he was said to have partied with Jho Low, a Malaysian financier who apparently suggested to DiCaprio once during a conversation that he intended to contribute to Obama's presidential campaign, according to the New York Post.

DiCaprio said:
"It was a casual conversation about what party he was in support of, I told him what party I was in support of. And he told me that he, or he and a group, were going to make a significant contribution to the Democratic Party. ... I said 'wow, that's a lot of money.'"
Prakazrel "Pras" Michel, founder of The Fugees, has been recruited by Low in an effort to funnel money to Obama's re-election bid, because foreigners are not allowed to contribute to US campaigns. The report indicated that Michel had taken "tens of millions of dollars" to lobby the government on behalf of the Chinese government.
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Eye 1

US efforts to ban TikTok are pure projection by the world's biggest spy power

Timur Fomenko
RT
Tue, 04 Apr 2023 14:15 UTC
Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., questions TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew
© Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesRep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., questions TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew during the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing titled TikTok: How Congress Can Safeguard American Data Privacy And Protect Children From Online Harms, in Rayburn Building on Thursday, March 23, 2023.
Washington is used to controlling the planet's top tech companies and doesn't want anyone to threaten its surveillance domination.

As the United States contemplates a possible ban on TikTok, it relentlessly accuses Beijing of using the popular Chinese-owned social media application as a means of espionage, claiming that the Communist Party has access to user data.

Ironically, Washington itself is known to be doing exactly what US politicians are accusing China of doing. Using the unique advantage of having jurisdiction over the world's top internet companies, the US has given itself the right to look into the private communications of foreign citizens anywhere in the world. Combine that data-sharing between intelligence agencies of the US and its allies, and you get the most comprehensive espionage regime in the world.

While American politicians and media constantly talk about fears of Chinese espionage, the near-absence of coverage of Washington's own spying efforts ought to be a reminder of where the true power lies. When it comes to the shady activities of the CIA and the NSA, the public tends to only learn what they did years later from declassified documents, or what they "have been doing all along" from rare whistleblowers like Edward Snowden. All discussion and speculation about what they "may be doing right now" tends to be dismissed as conspiracy theories. Conversely, allegations of Chinese spying activities are constantly explained as "we all know they're doing it" in the public eye, despite the lack of solid proof.

Comment: See also:

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Cardboard Box

The Everything Collapse

Egon von Greyerz
Gold Switzerland
Sun, 02 Apr 2023 00:00 UTC
building collapse
Sadly, gold is now on its way to heights which are unthinkable for most people.

To all the people who have asked me over the years why gold doesn't go up, I have replied:

"Don't wish for gold to go up substantially for when it does, your quality of life will deteriorate remarkably."

And we are now at the point in the world when this is likely to happen.

Let me be clear, now is the time to protect whatever assets you have in order to avoid the total asset destruction that is coming next. More about this later in this article.

THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM WILL NOT SURVIVE

I came to the conclusion early in this century that a sick financial system was not going to survive the infestation of vermin in the form of debt that started just over 50 years ago.
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Wolf

Anatomy of a Biden Family business deal: Get son Hunter or sister Valerie to sign 'on behalf of the VP'

Seamus Bruner
Breitbart
Tue, 04 Apr 2023 18:41 UTC
Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, Valerie Biden
© AP/Visar Kryeziu(L-R) Hunter Biden, Joe Biden
Email exchanges between Joe Biden's family and business associates show the Bidens planning to cash in on the family name in an academic venture with the University of Delaware while discussing ways to carefully distance Joe himself from financial documents outlining the deal.

Team Biden was to receive $12.5 million for the establishment of the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware (UD), which launched shortly after Joe Biden left the vice presidency in 2017. The arrangement meant a nice payday for the Bidens and their associates. And, as it turned out, the launch of the Biden Institute coincided with a bonanza in foreign money donations for the university. Correspondences show that UD wanted Joe Biden to raise funds for the university after his institute opened.

In the weeks and months following the opening of the Institute, UD received foreign cash donations totaling more than $33 million, including $6.7 million from China. Of that sum, three gifts came directly from the Chinese Communist government.
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