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'Covid-19 has shown us that our old systems are not fit anymore for the 21st century. It has laid bare the fundamental lack of social cohesion, fairness, inclusion and equality. Now is the historical moment, the time, not only to fight the virus but to shape the system for the post-corona era.'Among those involved are Prince Charles, the secretary general of the United Nations, the managing director of the IMF, the CEOs of Mastercard, BP, the president of Microsoft, an official from the People's Bank of China, and other global players. And recent UK attendees of Davos are a diverse group. Tony Blair, Sir David Attenborough and Prince William, for example. Greenpeace, the WWF and trade unions regularly cosy up with big oil, bankers and officials from some of the most brutal regimes on the planet.
"We are in the process that I would recall is a global reset. The entire financial system is being reset. There are two aspects of this: One is extending the old system, and the other is bringing in the new system. It's very much being done on the fly by trial and error, but the new system is 100% digital."The new system, according to Fitts, will be a top down control system where "tyranny" will be the key feature. Fitts predicts,
"If you look at the tyranny they are working on delivering, I don't think most people realize how hideous some of their plans are. So, the tyranny that's coming and the printing that's coming is greater than anything we have seen so far. . . . The Fed started a new round of QE in March, and if you look at the extent of that, it is extraordinarily inflationary. That's because this time around, the Fed is not just doing $3 trillion in QE. What the Fed did in three or four months, what it took them to do in three to five years during the so-called financial crisis, that is an extraordinary amount. Then you combine it with fiscal stimulus because the Fed is now buying the Treasuries . . . and the Treasury is sending checks out to Main Street. We are seeing that money going into the economy that is extraordinarily inflationary."
France, Italy, Greece and Cyprus are staging a massive maritime exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean, in an apparent veiled nod to Turkey, which recently began researching oil and gas deposits in the area, raising ire in Athens.And Turkey's President Erdogan is doubling and tripling down on his assertions:
Codenamed 'Eunomia', the aeronautical exercises launched on Wednesday off the southern shores of Cyprus, the host nation of the war games. Athens' defense minister announced the start of the drills earlier in the day, saying they are to reinforce "the rule of law as part of the policy of de-escalating tensions."
France, in turn, also confirmed the news, having dispatched its 'Lafayette' frigate, as well as three Rafale fighter jets. Italian and Cypriot vessels were also said to have joined the exercise in the eastern part of the Mediterranean.
A day prior, separate drills kicked off near the Greek island of Crete, this time involving Hellenic and US armed forces.
The string of military exercises appears to be upping the ante in the festering feud between Greece and Turkey. Formally allies within NATO, the two nations have been at loggerheads over a number of issues, from historical discords to overlapping territorial claims in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Tensions recently flared up when a trove of gas and oil was discovered in the contentious waters. This week, Ankara announced that its Oruc Reis research vessel will carry on navigating the disputed waters between Cyprus and Crete. The news has caused outrage in Greece which views the research activities as unlawful and considers them an affront to its sovereignty.
Perhaps pouring more petrol into the flaming spat with Greece, the Turkish president ruled out making any concessions to Athens on the oil and gas discoveries in the contentious Mediterranean waters.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan picked a rather symbolic occasion to make the claims. He was speaking at a ceremony to commemorate a military victory by Seljuk Turks over the Byzantine Empire at the town of Malazgirt in the 11th century.
Turkey will take "whatever it is entitled to in the Mediterranean, Aegean and Black seas, we will not make any concessions," Erdogan said on Wednesday.
The bulk of his fiery speech was devoted to Greece, which strongly objects to Turkey's research drilling in the contested Mediterranean waters. Saying the modern-day Greeks are "unworthy of the Byzantine legacy," Erdogan proceeded to veiled threats.
If it [Greece] wants to pay a price, let them come and face us. If they don't have the courage for it, they should stand out of our way.
[...]
Turkey has prolonged an oil exploration mission of the Oruc Reis survey ship in the same area, reinforcing it with several warships.
Meanwhile on the diplomatic front, Athens signaled that it's open to talks with Ankara, but not under "military pressure." Germany, which has assumed the role of mediator in the spat, likened it to "playing with fire," and has liaised with Turkey and Greece in previous days.
Both sides appear to be ready to talk, according to German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who toured both capitals. "No one wants to settle this conflict militarily, which would be absolute madness," he said on Tuesday, speaking alongside Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu.
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