Puppet MastersS


Cow

SEC's proposed ESG rule will leave small farms in the lurch, lawmakers from both parties say

Tyler Olson
FOX Business
Thu, 26 May 2022 00:00 UTC
JohnRose
© Tennessee StarRep. John Rose, R-Tenn presses the SEC on proposed ruling that bars US farmers from working with public companies.
More than 100 House members from both parties are attacking a proposed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule that they say will put "unworkable" regulatory requirements on small farms.

In a letter led by Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., the lawmakers said a proposed rule for "Enhanced and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors" could block farmers from working with public companies.

In all, 118 House members are signing the letter, including two swing-district Democrats in Reps. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Elaine Luria. D-Va. The letter, sent to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, read:
"To do business with public companies, small farms would be required to disclose a significant amount of climate-related information. But unlike large corporations, small farms do not have full-scale compliance departments. It is not within the purview of the SEC to regulate farmers and ranchers, which is what this rule would do by requiring public companies to disclose their Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions."

Comment: The SEC wants to control all aspects of food production under the guise of environmental protocol. Submit to a power structure and watch the harvest disappear.

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Arrow Up

Russia names profiteer from Ukraine crisis


RT
Tue, 31 May 2022 13:39 UTC
LNG Carrier
© Lex Van Lieshout/ANP/AFPLNG Carrier
American corporations and financial institutions are conducting a rapid expansion into Europe, using the crisis in Ukraine for their gain, the secretary of Russia's Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, said during a meeting of the body on Tuesday.

Among other things, American firms "have already taken under their control a segment of the European gas market," he reported. Semiconductors and other high-tech sectors of the European economy are of great interest to the US too, he said.

Russia was a primary supplier of energy to Europe, particularly of natural gas, before the Ukrainian crisis cast doubt on the future of trade. Following the US example, the EU imposed various economic sanctions on Moscow, claiming that they are meant to put a price on attacking Ukraine and force a retreat. The EU has sanctioned Russian coal and crude and declared it will fully cut Russian supplies in the coming years.

Even before the hostilities, the US had been pressuring European nations to reduce their trade with Russia. Critics said Washington was interested in forcing Russian gas out of Europe and taking its place with America's more expensive liquified natural gas.

Comment: Taking advantage of crisis is a US specialty - especially if it is one of its own making.

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Oil Well

Japan won't quit Russian LNG project even if told to says minister


RT
Tue, 31 May 2022 14:17 UTC
Prigorodnoye
© GazpromPrigorodnoye production complex
Tokyo has imposed sanctions on Moscow but refuses to cut energy ties. Japan will not withdraw from Russia's Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas project even if it's told to do so, the country's industry minister told parliament on Tuesday.

The comments follow criticism from Russia last week accusing Japan of benefiting from its participation in the project while being an "unfriendly nation" that joined the West in putting sanctions on Moscow. Economy, Trade and Industry

Minister Koichi Hagiuda said:
"Sakhalin-2 is an asset that our predecessors worked hard to acquire. The owner of the land may be Russia, but the leasehold and the liquefaction and transportation equipment belong to the Japanese government and Japanese companies. We do not intend to leave, even if we are told [to do so]."
Russian State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said last week that Japan was receiving "huge profits" from the Sakhalin-2 project, suggesting that its stake should be sold to Russia's state-owned energy company Gazprom or to companies from "friendly nations." Japan has joined the US and the EU in imposing a wide range of economic restrictions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict but fell short of cutting energy cooperation.

Sakhalin-2, a joint venture between Russia's Gazprom (50%), Japan's Mitsui (12.5%) and Mitsubishi (10%) and UK-based Shell (27.5%), is a liquified natural gas project located on Russia's Sakhalin Island near Japan. Because of its proximity, shipping the supplies only takes about three days, thereby reducing transportation costs. Japan gets almost 9% of the LNG it needs from Sakhalin.
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Star of David

Will the ICC help Israel get away with Shireen Abu Akleh's murder?

Maureen Clare Murphy
Electronic Intifada
Fri, 27 May 2022 17:44 UTC
Shireen Abu Akleh memorial murder israel Jenin
© APAA makeshift memorial at the site in Jenin refugee camp where Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed while covering an Israeli military raid, 19 May.
If Israel thought that the international heat over the apparent targeted killing of iconic Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh would blow over in a couple of weeks, it was very wrong.

One can understand, however, why Israel would make such a calculation.

It has gotten away with intentionally killing Palestinian journalists, paramedics and persons with disabilities with little consequence other than demands for accountability from human rights investigators that have gone ignored by Israel's international accomplices.

It has repeatedly attacked Palestinians inside Gaza, where there is no safety from Israel's bombs in the territory, under economic blockade and comprehensive closure since 2007.
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Jet2

Playing chicken: Taiwan jets scramble as China air force enters air defence zone


The Guardian
Mon, 30 May 2022 17:01 UTC
china taiwan flags fighter jet
© REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationChinese and Taiwanese national flags are displayed alongside a military airplane in this illustration taken April 9, 2021.
Taiwan on Monday reported the largest incursion since January by China's air force in its air defence zone, with the island's defence ministry saying Taiwanese fighters scrambled to warn away 30 aircraft in the latest uptick in tensions.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for the past two years or so of repeated missions by China's air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.

Taiwan calls China's repeated nearby military activities "grey zone" warfare, designed to both wear out Taiwan's forces by making them repeatedly scramble, and also to test Taiwan's responses.

Comment: The U.S. has been provoking China for years. Just as Washington claims the western hemisphere as its sphere of influence, so does China claim the west Pacific.

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Oil Well

Europe's move against Russian oil may be its last for a while

Lenka Ponikelska, Maria Tadeo and Jorge ValeroTue
Yahoo! News
Tue, 31 May 2022 16:29 UTC
europe russia oil dependence
© BloombergEurope's dependence on Russian oil, 2022
European Union leaders overcame weeks of division to clinch a deal on partially banning Russian oil, but calls to target one of Putin's other big moneymakers, gas, are opening new rifts in the bloc.

In the hardest-hitting measure targeting Russia's lucrative energy sector, the government chiefs agreed to pursue a ban on the purchase of seaborne oil and petroleum products from Russia, with a temporary exemption for pipeline crude. While the details must still be hashed out, the deal prepares the ground for a sixth package of sanctions to punish President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine.

"Yesterday proved that the EU is able to maintain unity in the face of Russian aggression," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala told reporters Tuesday, the second day of a leaders' summit in Brussels. "The talks were pragmatic and went faster than expected, which is a strong message for Putin."
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Arrow Down

Best of the Web: Zelensky feeling the heat as Ukraine's unity crumbles amid serious military losses in the Donbass

Vladislav Ugolniy
RT
Mon, 30 May 2022 19:28 UTC
azov surrender azovstal ukraine russia
© Sputnik/Russian Defence MinistryUkrainian soldiers of the Azov battalion who have surrendered at the Azovstal steel plant walk on a road in the Russia-controlled port city of Mariupol, Donetsk People's Republic.
The recent advances of the Russian army have taken their toll on society and are a major setback for the leadership's motivational efforts

Ukrainians appear to be losing unity amid military defeats in the Donbass and the economic crisis in the rest of the country. The surge of patriotism that arose when the Russian army was close to Kiev appears now, in the last days of May, to have been exhausted. Along with it, the national consensus that saw all political groups rallying behind the Ukrainian army, rather than struggling against President Volodomyr Zelensky seems to have disappeared.

Now, the Western-backed leader looks to be in big trouble.

The withdrawal of Russian troops from areas around Kiev, Chernigov, and Sumy, completed by April 3, was seen as a significant victory for the Ukrainian authorities. The removal of the threat from the capital made it possible to return diplomatic institutions, organize the visits of foreign delegations to the sites of past battles, and convince NATO countries that Ukraine would be able to withstand the war against Russia if it received more serious weapons.
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Bizarro Earth

Best of the Web: Ukraine conflict 'at whim of govt': Former politicians of New Zealand speak out against West's proxy war against Russia

Michael Hall
New Zealand Herald
Tue, 31 May 2022 22:58 UTC
Mike Smith
FILE PHOTO: Former Labour Party General Secretary Mike Smith.
A former senior Labour Party member says New Zealand has effectively gone to war without consulting the public by joining Nato's efforts to defeat Russia's military objectives in Ukraine.

Mike Smith, who served as general-secretary of the party from 2001-2009, told RNZ the government was helping to put back a negotiated peace settlement indefinitely by sending Defence Force personnel and resources to Europe as confrontation between Russia and the Western military alliance continues to escalate.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 (local time) claiming its "special military operation" would remove anti-Russian neo-Nazi elements entrenched in Kyiv's institutions of state and protect Russian-speaking populations in the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk after eight years of civil war. It wants a security guarantee its neighbour won't join Nato, which it views as a hostile threat to its borders.

Comment: Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Monkeypox 'Pandemic', Primates in Power, and Global Famine



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Brick Wall

Trudeau's COVID restrictions UPHELD in Parliament

Roberto Wakerell-Cruz
The Post Millennial
Mon, 30 May 2022 22:11 UTC
Justin Trudeau
The Conservative Party-led motion to revert to pre-pandemic rules and service levels for travel was defeated on Monday, with Nays beating out Yeas 202 to 117.

The Opposition motion, put forward by Thornhill MP Melissa Lantsman, called on the House to revert measures that restrict unvaccinated Canadians from travelling by train or plane in their own country.


Comment: Canadian politicians vote for continued fascism. What a surprise.

See also:

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Attention

The Summit of the Americas

Avis Krane
Essence of Time
Mon, 30 May 2022 22:42 UTC
Organization of American States (OAS)
© KeepscasesOrganization of American States (OAS).
The situation around the Summit of the Americas scheduled for early June, which this time is to be held in Los Angeles, is becoming more and more tense and interesting. What are we talking about?

Back in March, US officials said that Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua would not be invited to the summit. They say these "dictatorships" are unfit to attend the event, where the "light of democracy" will speak about more strengthening of democracy in the world. And that would have been OK: if the host himself did not invite them, then so be it. But it was not.

At the beginning of May, the leader of Mexico Andres Manuel López Obrador suddenly announced that he would not personally go to the summit unless all American countries were invited there without exception. One could assess how extraordinary this announcement judging from the anxious statements of the frightened pro-US forces in Mexico, including representatives of previous, more compliant authorities. It was said that Andres Manuel López Obrador was sinking Mexico, and that "he who is not at the table will be the eaten."

But soon things began to get interesting. Mexico's statement clearly instilled courage in other Latin American leaders, and Brazil, Bolivia, Honduras, Guatemala joined the "ultimatum".

The New York Times wrote that if the presidents of Mexico and Brazil don't come, the summit will fail and Biden will be humiliated. It must be said that this very situation already shows that something is going on with the status of the United States. Other countries are still afraid of it, of course, but somehow not as much as before. And Mexico, it should be noted, is very much dependent on the United States. And yet this is the way things are.
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