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Beaker

Russia issues latest report on US-funded biolabs in Ukraine


RT
Fri, 10 Mar 2023 17:32 UTC
petri dish
© Tek Image/Science Photo Library/Getty ImagesVirus research
US-funded biological research laboratories are continuing to operate in Ukraine in spite of official statements indicating that they had been 'deactivated', the Russian Defense Ministry said in a Friday report on Washington's international pathogen research programs.

According to the commander of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, Moscow has obtained documents that suggest Kiev has continued to coordinate with the Pentagon in the military biological field, including the transfer of pathogenic biomaterials.

Kirillov pointed to an official appeal from 'ch2m-hill' - a key Pentagon contractor - to Ukrainian companies participating in a "program to counter particularly dangerous pathogens in Ukraine."

The document reports on the continuation of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's (DTRA) biological program in Ukraine and outlines future tasks, such as consolidating collections of dangerous pathogens and deploying systems for managing bio risks and monitoring the epidemiological situation.
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Cardboard Box

Tucker Carlson: Silicon Valley Bank has gone completely under, and the Biden admin doesn't seem to care

Tucker Carlson
Fox News
Fri, 10 Mar 2023 10:41 UTC
Carlson
© YouTube/KJNTucker Carlson
We are starting to get a better, a more precise sense of what it means when Joe Biden brags about the strongest and most equitable economic recovery in modern history. What it means is it could be time to buy gold and stockpile food. Oh, there's a deal on Russian steel case and then go pick up a pallet. Just kidding, sort of.

Yesterday, some of the biggest banks in this country, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley collectively lost more than $50 billion in market value in one day. That's quite a hit. On the other hand, those banks still exist, and you can't say that for Silicon Valley Bank. As of this morning, Silicon Valley Bank or SVB has gone under completely. That makes the second-biggest bank failure in the history of this country, and that's significant.

SVB financed nearly half of all venture-backed health care and technology companies in the United States. It also apparently held significant cash reserves for some of the biggest cryptocurrencies, and it's now gone. Federal regulators have renamed it and taken it over and that means an awful lot of people lost an awful lot of money and no, most of that money was not insured, no matter what they tell you. The FDIC only guarantees bank deposits up to $250,000, and according to some reports, more than 90% of all deposits at SBP exceeded that and it's unclear whether those people will ever see their money again.

Comment: See also:

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Document

France's Senate passes controversial pension reform

Mary Manley
Sputnik
Sun, 12 Mar 2023 06:01 UTC
france pension reform protest
© Sputnik
The controversial bill will raise the legal retirement age of French workers from 62 years of age to 64 and is a major win for President Emmanuel Macron despite mass protests against the plan nationwide.

On Sunday France's Senate passed a controversial reform bill that will raise the retirement age for those in France by two years. The Senate passed the bill by 195 votes to 112. It will now go to a joint parliamentary committee (CMP), after which the chambers of Parliament will vote separately on the bill.

The bill plans to gradually raise the retirement age by three months a year starting in September of 2023 until 2030, when the age of those who will be able to retire reaches 64.

"After hundreds of hours of discussions, the Senate adopted the pension reform plan. It is a key step to make a reform happen that will guarantee the future of our pension system," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne wrote on Twitter.
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Popcorn

Iran-Saudi détente spells a 'catastrophe for US hegemony' - Analyst


Press TV
Fri, 10 Mar 2023 11:44 UTC
iran saudi arabia
An American geostrategic analyst and writer has said that the restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia is "a catastrophe for US hegemony, which is founded on permanent instability between any potential allies and competitors."

After several days of intensive negotiations hosted by China, Iran and Saudi Arabia reached an agreement on Friday to restore diplomatic relations and re-open embassies in each other's countries; seven years after ties were severed over several issues.

Daniel Patrick Welch said in an interview with Press TV on Friday, "It's huge."

Comment: Is it any wonder the US has begun to turn more of its attention towards containing China? Despite being more than overstretched with its proxy war in Ukraine: NewsReal: Enter The Dragon: China Sides With Russia Against America



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Alarm Clock

Everything, all at once

James Howard Kunstler
Clusterfuck Nation
Fri, 10 Mar 2023 00:00 UTC
lyrics
© Bob DylanDesolation Row
"There's a lot of stupidity in public discourse, and most of it is not worth paying attention to. But once in a while, there is a kind of stupidity that is so grotesque that its very existence to any substantive degree tells us something about our culture." — Richard Hanania
Time, they say, is nature's way of making sure that everything doesn't happen at once. Whoever "they" are — and these days it is liable to be just one person — obviously hadn't tried living in the USA in 2023, because now everything is happening at once. The cosmic weirdness has left some observers, such as the formidable and admirable Naomi Wolf, to wonder if we are under the sway of something supernatural, and not a good something.

The old movie Poltergeist comes to mind. Remember? Every evil entity in the pop culture universe came spewing out of a TV all at once, to disorder a perfectly banal and serene suburban neighborhood, representing all of us, of course. These days, when I drive to the supermarket to behold the astounding price of tomatoes, I half-expect to see a giant projection of Joy Reid, piggyback on a hoofed-and-horned Klaus Schwab, ride across the sickening red twilight sky, her shrieks making the leafless trees cringe and the asphalt crack. The shadow-side of everything in American history and posterity is loose upon the land, and our country has finally come to look exactly like Dylan's Desolation Row: They're selling postcards of the hanging, and painting the passports brown, all right. The beauty parlor's filled with sailors, the circus is in town.
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Light Sabers

China is competing in a great Asian arms race because it has no other choice

Timur Fomenko
RT
Thu, 09 Mar 2023 00:59 UTC
guy and gun
© CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty ImagesSpecial warfare reconnaissance team members conduct a field reconnaissance training
Hechi City, Guangxi Province, China • Feb. 17, 2023
Beijing's continued militarization is a forced response to US pressure. But can it keep its cool?

During the two sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) over the weekend, China announced that its military budget would increase by 7.2% year on year. The news made headlines around the world.

The Chinese premier's work report, submitted to the NPC, says the country's military "should intensify military training and preparedness across the board," and points to escalating "external attempts to suppress and contain China." The country's state media reacted conservatively, stressing that the defense spending increase is in keeping with the "single-digit" growth pattern of recent years (7.1% in 2022, 6.8% in 2021, 6.6% in 2020).

Western media took a much different angle, with many outlets making obligatory mention of warnings from analysts and officials that China's real military spending could be much higher than the announced budget. For example the Guardian cited the US Department of Defense as claiming it could be up to two times higher. These outlets do mention that China's defense budget is still dwarfed by that of the US ($224B versus $772B), before moving on to talk about the size of China's navy and infantry, its "militarization" of the South China Sea and, of course, repeating the warnings emanating from Washington DC that "China may invade Taiwan" soon.

Comment: There is no mystery how US 'bully relations' with China will end.

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Clipboard

A handy January 6 fact sheet

Julie Kelly
American Greatness
Thu, 09 Mar 2023 00:00 UTC
CarlsonSchumer
© Twitter/usnews/KJNTucker Carlson • Chuck Schumer
In another example of Washington's inexorable slide into banana republic territory, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) took to the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to call for the removal of an American journalist. During his seven-minute authoritarian tirade, he said:
"I don't think I've ever seen an anchor treat the American people, and American democracy, with such disdain. And he's going to come back tonight with another segment. Fox News should tell him not to. Fox News, Rupert Murdoch — tell Mr. Carlson not to run a second segment of lies. You know it's a lie."
Schumer later reiterated his demand to a group of journalists who, rather than denounce one of the most powerful government officials in the country attempting to silence an influential member of the media, dutifully reported Schumer's bleating without question.

Republican senators including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) joined the fray, echoing Schumer's faux concerns over "national security."

Clearly, it's panic time. The White House, Congress, and the Democratic Party propaganda arm that is the corporate media realize their carefully engineered narrative about January 6 is imploding in real time. Which is why they're accusing Carlson of "whitewashing" and "rewriting" the events of January 6. Anything less than total fealty to regime-approved talking points about what happened before and after that day now is considered a "threat to democracy."

Comment: Capitol Hill is showing its true face to the world...how 'fake democracy' really works.

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Dollar

Odds are rising that the Fed will trigger the next bust

Thorsten Polleit
Mises Wire
Wed, 08 Mar 2023 00:00 UTC
coins chart
© unknown
From March 17, 2022, to the end of January 2023, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) increased its federal funds rate from practically zero to 4.50-4.75 percent. The rise in lending rates came in response to skyrocketing consumer goods price inflation: US inflation rose from 2.5 percent in January 2022 to 9.1 percent in June. Notwithstanding inflation falling to 6.4 percent in January 2023, the Fed continues to signal to markets that it will continue to hike rates to bring down consumer price inflation.

This is understandable. The Fed wants to maintain its inflation-fighting credentials; it wants people to believe it is really determined to bring inflation back to 2 percent. It is presumably well aware that the US dollar's world reserve currency status needs to be protected more than ever, as it gives the US government (and the powerful special interest groups that harness it for their purposes) tremendous power, not only nationally but internationally.
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Arrow Up

Xi Jinping re-elected as Chinese president


RT
Fri, 10 Mar 2023 10:15 UTC
Xi Jinping
© Noel Celis/AFPChina's President Xi Jinping swears under oath after being re-elected as president for a third term at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 10, 2023.
Xi Jinping was re-elected as the President of China on Friday, securing an unprecedented third five-year term in power. Last year, Xi was also re-confirmed in the key position of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader.

His candidacy was endorsed by a unanimous vote from the National People's Congress, China's legislature and supreme authority. Apart from being kept as the nation's president, Xi was also retained as chairman of the Central Military Commission, which is in charge of the overall administration of the country's armed forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Chinese counterpart on his re-election, describing it as "a testament to the recognition of your accomplishments as the head of state." He also pointed to "broad public support" for Xi's course seeking to promote China's socio-economic development and protect Beijing's national interests on the global stage. "Russia highly appreciates your personal contribution to strengthening comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction between our states," the president added, expressing hope that Moscow and Beijing would ramp up co-operation in various spheres.

Xi kept his presidential post after being re-elected last October as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, also for a third term. The latter position is considered to be more important than the post of president, which is widely regarded as a ceremonial office.

Comment: See also: China's Xi unanimously re-elected as president for unprecedented 3rd term

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Folder

House Dems, GOP vote unanimously to declassify COVID origins intel, send bill to Biden

Peter Kasperowicz
Fox News
Fri, 10 Mar 2023 10:30 UTC
2 guys gavel
© AP/Andrew HarnikRepublicans and Democrats voted unanimously on Friday to require the government to release classified data related to COVID's possible origin in China.
The House vote followed the Senate's unanimous vote last week...

House lawmakers made it clear Friday that it's time for the Biden administration to come clean on what it knows about COVID-19's origin.

Republicans and Democrats voted unanimously — 419-0 — to require the Biden administration's director of national intelligence to declassify all intelligence related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and possible links to the origins of the COVID-19 virus. That release would be required 90 days after the bill is signed into law.

The vote followed new assessments from the Department of Energy and the FBI that a lab leak in China was the most likely source of the pandemic that killed millions of people around the world. After those assessments were revealed, the Senate unanimously passed the GOP bill last week, and the House followed with its own unanimous vote a little more than a week later.

On the House floor, Republicans made it clear they believe the information that's still classified points to the Wuhan lab as the source of COVID.

Comment: Would Congress be as united and enthusiastic examining Fort Detrick as the source?

A bit of sanity: COVID enhanced regulation and control: Russell Brand



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