The Russian foreign minister sparred with Western reporters after chairing the UN Security Council

The future of the Black Sea Initiative, possible prisoner exchanges between Washington and Moscow, and the prospects for preventing the Third World War were among the topics Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed on Tuesday while speaking with reporters at the UN in New York.

"You suspected I would not speak Russian, right?" Lavrov told reporters, in English, at the very start of the hour-long press conference, before switching to his mother tongue in accordance with protocol.

"Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent us? The constitutional theory is that we the people are the sovereigns, the state and federal officials only our agents. We who have the final word can speak softly or angrily. We can seek to challenge and annoy, as we need not stay docile and quiet."
— Justice William O. Douglas

Absolutely, there is a war on free speech. To be more accurate, however, the war on free speech is really a war on the right to criticize the government.

Although the right to speak out against government wrongdoing is the quintessential freedom, every day in this country, those who dare to speak their truth to the powers-that-be find themselves censored, silenced or fired. Indeed, those who run the government don't take kindly to individuals who speak truth to power.

In fact, 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.

This is nothing new, nor is it unique to any particular presidential administration.

For instance, as part of its campaign to eradicate so-called "disinformation," the Biden Administration likened those who share "false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information" to terrorists. This government salvo against consumers and spreaders of "mis- dis- and mal-information" widens the net to potentially include anyone who is exposed to ideas that run counter to the official government narrative.

Janet Yellen, the American Treasury Secretary, or Finance Minister, took the US hostility and threat against China to a new level in a speech on April 20 at Johns Hopkins University. In a speech laced with colonialist attitudes and arrogance she talked as if the USA was emperor of the world and China was a rebellious vassal, a speech, despite her rhetoric of seeking 'constructive" economic ties, that can only destroy any chance of that succeeding.

To read her speech is to understand the mafia mind set of the American leadership for she spoke as if she were the lieutenant of a mafia don threatening to break someone's legs for not obeying his criminal demands.

She began her long-winded speech by welcoming China's adoption of some "market reforms" in prior years and claimed the US was responsible for China's rise as an economic power claiming that "The US Congress and successive presidential administrations supported China's integration into global markets." The Chinese have a different view of the matter since China was never disconnected from world markets and relied on its own efforts and the success of the policies of the Communist Party to develop and expand its economy and its trade with the world.

After that introduction, she quickly switched gears by decrying China's "decision to pivot away from market reforms toward a more state-driven approach that has undercut its neighbours and countries across the world," and that, "this has come as China is striking a more confrontational posture toward the USA and our allies..."

In effect she admits the communist government of China has succeeded in developing China's economy and the living standards of its people while the successive US governments have adopted policies destroying the US economy and standards of living. The glaring contrast makes the Americans both angry and embarrassed.

As for China being, "more confrontational," Yellen cannot point to any evidence of China "confronting the USA at all since the end of the Korean War when China was attacked by the United States. Since the "opening up" to China by Trudeau of Canada, and Nixon of the US in the early 1970's, China has always sought to cooperate with and improve its relations with all the nations of the world. It is the United States that has always been confrontational, and things have accelerated beginning with President Obama's "pivot to Asia," which was the beginning of their renewed strategic objective of forcing China to become their vassal.

President Trump continued with this objective with the imposition of trade tariffs in violation of World Trade Organisation agreements, with increased military sabre rattling over Taiwan, the arrest of Meng Wenzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, the Chinese communications company. President Biden continues this hostile policy today with increased military posturing and interference in the internal affairs of China over Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinxiang and other issues, all accompanied by an intense level of propaganda about China threatening American security and American "democracy."

The United States is hardly a "democracy." It is instead an extreme example of a plutocracy, a society ruled by the very wealthy but no matter; just a day before her speech, this "democracy" arrested two US citizens of Chinese ethnicity in New York City on absurd charges that they were running a "Chinese secret police station" in New York and members of a black, socialist party that expressed opposition to US war against Russia were charged with crimes amounting to treason for simply expressing their opinion.

Taking control of strategic foreign assets in Russia will enable Moscow to respond effectively to the potential confiscation of Russian companies' property abroad, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Tuesday allowing for the temporary takeover of foreign assets deemed critical for the country's energy security. The Federal Property Management Agency was ordered to establish external control of the Russian subsidiaries of Finnish energy company Fortum and Germany's Uniper.

According to Peskov, the two companies' assets were placed under the agency's administration as soon as the decree was signed by the president.

The presidential spokesman added that the move "mirrors the attitude of Western states towards foreign assets belonging to Russian companies."

"The main goal of the step is to create a compensation fund for potential use in tit-for-tat measures in response to the expropriation of Russian assets abroad," Peskov said. He added that a number of states systematically carry out a rapid transition from temporary administration to actual confiscation.

The West has pumped Kiev with modern armaments and trained tens of thousands of its troops.

How ready is the Ukrainian army for a counter-offensive?

So far, Ukraine's planned military assault, originally announced for November 2022, has been postponed indefinitely. Foreign sources differ in their assessment of Kiev's readiness for a counterattack against Russia and agree that it is difficult for the Ukrainians to gather enough forces.

What is stopping the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) from advancing now?

One of the main problems preventing the AFU from carrying out the announced offensive is considered to be a lack of experienced personnel.

A large portion of the combat-ready, equipped and motivated cadre units of the AFU (as well as the NGU and Territorial Defense) have already been destroyed in Mariupol, Artemovsk, Soledar, Popasnaya, Lisichansk, Severodonetsk and during the battles in the Kherson and Kharkov regions in the summer of 2022. Meanwhile, a new grouping of equal professionalism and equipment levels has not yet been formed. However, NATO and US officials differ in their estimates of the number of AFU formations.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after the Rammstein Contact Group meeting earlier this year that Western countries had managed to prepare nine armored brigades. This figure is questionable, however, as at least 837 tanks would be needed for that size of a deployment. After Rammstein, Austin reported deliveries of 230 battle tanks, suggesting a deliberate misrepresentation of the size of the Ukrainian group.

In 1806, the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte implemented one of the most significant trade blockades in European history, known as the "Continental Blockade." The underlying cause was a trade conflict between France and Britain. In 1793, Britain, which was at war with France, imposed a naval blockade on French port cities.

So on 21 November, 1806, Napoleon announced the Continental Blockade in Berlin, prohibiting European states under French rule - Prussia, Holland, Spain, Austria, and parts of Italy - from engaging in "all trade and correspondence with the British Isles." As a result, ships from England or its colonies were not permitted to dock in any of these countries' ports.

The trade blockade eventually involved almost the entire European continent, and London responded with counter-blockades. Smuggling became rampant, and after the European powers gradually pushed back Napoleon's troops, the Continental Blockade was lifted in early 1813. The British emerged as the victors, having diverted most of their trade to North America.

The United Kingdom has provided Ukraine with thousands of shells for the donated Challenger 2 main battle tanks, UK minister for armed forces James Heappey said on Tuesday.

"We have sent thousands of rounds of Challenger 2 ammunition to Ukraine, including depleted uranium armour-piercing rounds," he said in a written answer to a parliamentary query.

Heappey did not give an estimate of the number of depleted uranium rounds fired by the Ukrainian armed forces, citing operational security reasons. The minister also admitted that the UK was not monitoring the locations from where these rounds were fired and added that his country was not obligated to help Ukraine clear up the depleted uranium rounds post-conflict.

It's April 22, 2027, and 72 hours into a first-strike Chinese attack on Taiwan and the U.S. military response. Already, the toll on all sides is staggering.


It was a war game, but one with a serious purpose and high-profile players: members of the House select committee on China. The conflict unfolded on Risk board game-style tabletop maps and markers under a giant gold chandelier in the House Ways and Means Committee room.

The exercise explored American diplomatic, economic and military options if the United States and China were to reach the brink of war over Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own.


The exercise played out one night last week and was observed by The Associated Press. It was part of the committee's in-depth review of U.S. policies toward China as lawmakers, especially in the Republican-led House, focus on tensions with President Xi Jinping's government.

How Democrats learned to Cast Aside Reservations and Embrace Biden 2024

The president who is expected to formally announce his re-election campaign this week, has won the full support of his party despite questions about his age and middling approval ratings.

"If you're going to lie," Joseph Goebbels used to say (in German of course), "make it a whopper." How did that work out for the Third Reich? Today, The New York Times says "Joe Biden" is revving up to run for president again in 2024. Is that so? One DNC strategist, Maria Cardona, was quoted saying, "Democrats complain that he might be too old. But then, when they're asked, 'Well, who?' There is no one else."

There you have the sucking chest wound at the center of the Democratic Party, a malodorous vacuum where, as they like to say, democracy dies in darkness. You understand, this is exactly what you get when all you do is tell lies, always and everywhere, about everything.

Now I will tell you the truth: "Joe Biden" will not be running for president ever again. "Joe Biden" will either be impeached for real high crimes and misdemeanors, or he will be bum-rushed out of the White House on some medical pretext before Independence Day. "Joe Biden's" crimes have finally caught up with him. He sold out his country.

Poland, Romania and other countries are being flooded with arms intended for Kiev, the veteran journalist insists...

Western-supplied arms are being sold by Ukrainian commanders to smugglers in Poland, Romania and other states, veteran American journalist Seymour Hersh has claimed.

The Pulitzer Prize winner, speaking to Afshin Rattansi on his program Going Underground, said the West is aware of the black market trade, as some reports about missing arms shipments have even appeared in the US media.

Hersh claimed that, according to his data, almost immediately after the conflict broke out between Kiev and Moscow last February:

"Poland, Romania, other countries on the border were being flooded with weapons we [the US and allies] were shipping for the war to Ukraine."

"Often, it wasn't generals, it was colonels and others, who were given shipments of some weapons, [who] would personally resell them... to the dark market."