Puppet MastersS


Attention

Pundits who advocate hot war with Russia are enemies of humanity

Caitlin Johnstone
Strategic Culture
Tue, 05 Apr 2022 00:00 UTC
Spencer
© MSNBCMSNBC's Ali Velshi interviews John Spencer
In an appearance on the MSNBC show Velshi, The Modern War Institute's John Spencer explicitly advocated direct US military conflict with Russia due to allegations of war crimes in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. Spencer sai:
"I'm ready to commit at this moment — unlike I was before this day — to put people in direct contact with Russia, to stop Russia. Call it peacekeeping. Call it what you will. We have to do more than provide weapons. And by 'we,' I mean the United States. Yes, we'll do it as a coalition with lots of other people, but we are the example. So put boots on the ground, send weapons directly at Russia."Notice the bizarre verbal gymnastics being used by Spencer to obfuscate the fact that he is advocating a hot war with a nuclear superpower: "put people in direct contact with Russia," "send weapons directly at Russia". Who talks like that? He's calling for the US military to fire upon the Russian military, he's just saying it really weirdly.

To be clear this isn't just some arms industry-funded think tanker saying this; The Modern War Institute is part of the Department of Military Instruction for the United States Military Academy, which is operated directly by the Pentagon.


Comment: Propaganda is taking on a life of its own, a growing dictate from the minds and mouths of warmongers. Meanwhile, John Spencer will be sitting in his easy chair a continent away.

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Calendar

Finland reveals timeline of possible NATO accession


RT
Tue, 05 Apr 2022 08:49 UTC
Finland Nato
© FT montage/AFP/Getty Images/KJN
The Finnish government will provide the country's parliament with a review of possible NATO accession by the middle of this month, the country's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said.

Moscow's attack on Ukraine has prompted Finland, which has a common border with Russia, to intensify the discussions on potential benefits of joining the military alliance. Haavisto revealed that Finland's leaders have already discussed the matter with "almost all" NATO members, and he "almost daily" talks about it with neighboring Sweden which is also considering joining the bloc.

In an interview with Reuters, published on Monday, Haavisto said that Finland needs to be prepared for retaliation from Russia:
We must "also listen to how NATO countries would react. We don't need to make any quick decisions on our own defense, but certainly a possible membership application could lead to making us a target of interference or hybrid actions."
On Saturday, the country's prime minister Sanna Marin, speaking during a Social Democratic Party delegates' gathering, said that Russia's offensive in Ukraine had undermined trust between Helsinki and Moscow in an "irreversible" way. "Russia is not the neighbor we thought it was," she said.

Comment: Fear creates bad decisions. Accusations are not proof.

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Pistol

Alleged execution of Russian POWs captured on video


RT
Tue, 05 Apr 2022 14:33 UTC
Prisoner
© AFP/Fadel SennaUkrainian serviceman guards a handcuffed POW
Ukrainian forces have violated the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, the Russian Investigative Committee says. A gruesome clip emerged on social media on Tuesday, purportedly showing the execution of Russian prisoners of war by Ukrainian troops.

The video starts with the apparent murder of a severely wounded Russian serviceman, who was lying on a road. "Look, he's still alive. He's wheezing," a voice said off screen before shots were fired at the defenseless soldier. It then shows the bodies of several more Russians, scattered on the ground nearby in puddles of blood, as armed men with Ukrainian military insignia on their uniforms cheer as they walk among them.
At least one of the prisoners of war in the footage has his hands tied behind his back, and was apparently executed with a shot to the head at point-blank range. Some media outlets suggested that other soldiers may have had their throats slit.
The Ukrainian troops in the video are seen shouting "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to Heroes!" - a slogan belonging to World War Two Nazi collaborators which has been adopted by the country's military - and discussing what gear they could loot from the corpses.

The video is so graphic that RT is unable to share it.

Comment: A story that won't be aired in Western News!

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Stop

U.S. stops Russian bond payments in bid to raise pressure on Moscow

Megan Davies, Alexandra Alper
Investing.com
Tue, 05 Apr 2022 06:40 UTC
Russian Ruble
© Reuters/Maxim ZmeyevRussian Ruble Banknotes
The United States stopped the Russian government on Monday from paying holders of its sovereign debt more than $600 million from reserves held at U.S. banks, in a move meant to ratchet up pressure on Moscow and eat into its holdings of dollars.

Under sanctions put in place after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, foreign currency reserves held by the Russian central bank at U.S. financial institutions were frozen. But the Treasury Department had been allowing the Russian government to use those funds to make coupon payments on dollar-denominated sovereign debt on a case-by-case basis.

On Monday, as the largest of the payments came due, including a $552.4 million principal payment on a maturing bond, the U.S. government decided to cut off Moscow's access to the frozen funds, according to a U.S. Treasury spokesperson. An $84 million coupon payment was also due on Monday on a 2042 sovereign dollar bond. The move was meant to force Moscow to make the difficult decision of whether it would use dollars that it has access to for payments on its debt or for other purposes, including supporting its war effort, the spokesperson said.
"Russia must choose between draining remaining valuable dollar reserves or new revenue coming in, or default."
Russia faces a historic default if it chooses to not do so.

Comment: A financial squeeze play is afoot that serves no one. It is because 'they can' and creates malignant satisfaction that 'they did'. It would be remiss to assume this is a surprise to Russia.

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Oil Well

Europe's Russia coal ban fuels global fight for dirty fuel

Todd Gillespie, Isis Almeida and Jesper Starn
Yahoo! News
Wed, 06 Apr 2022 18:43 UTC
Coal mines
© Jim Urquhart / ReutersDump trucks haul coal and sediment at the Black Butte coal mine outside Rock Springs, Wyoming, U.S.
Europe is taking a big gamble as it moves to ban Russian coal, potentially leaving itself vulnerable to shortages and rolling blackouts while the rest of the world contends with surging prices.

Russia is Europe's top supplier of thermal coal, used to fuel power stations. As the European Union joins the U.S. to take a harder stance against President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, the continent has plans to phase out Russian shipments. The problem is that there's no clear alternative for that huge chunk of trade, and the result appears destined to lead to a domino effect that creates a mad global scramble for the fuel.

Prices are already soaring in a market that has been tight for months. European coal jumped 14% to a three-week high on Tuesday after news of the proposed ban, with futures doubling since the start of the year. The Asian benchmark hit an all-time high in March, while in the U.S., it topped $100 a ton last week for the first time in 13 years.

Comment: And from RT, highlighting the fantasy world the US elites are living in:
"I don't see any ability for the industry to expand production. It's like looking at a sweet dessert that you just can't reach," Ernie Thrasher, chief executive officer of Xcoal Energy & Resources LLC., the US' biggest exporter, told Bloomberg.

The US is among the world's top five coal exporters, and sells most of its coal to India, Brazil and South Korea.

According to Thrasher, most of the US coal output has already been sold under long-term contracts and there are few spare tons to deliver to Europe. With coal being the dirtiest fossil fuel, there has been little investment in new capacity, he explained, adding that tight labor markets and supply-chain bottlenecks caused by the coronavirus pandemic would also make it difficult to deliver extra tons for export.

According to media reports, potential buyers from some EU countries have already approached Indonesia and Australia, the world's largest thermal coal exporters. But those countries have limited capacity as well. The EU wants to move away from Russian supplies, which meet 70% of Europe's demand for thermal coal.


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Safe

Putin warns the West: Nationalization of assets cuts both ways


RT
Wed, 06 Apr 2022 18:03 UTC
commercial jet russia markings
Russian airline corporations lease a large number of commercial jets from western companies, which would be a prime target for seizure
Russian leader responds to seizure of his country's assets abroad

The nationalization of assets is a double-edged weapon, Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed during a government meeting in response to some Western countries proposing to seize his country's property abroad.

"We're already hearing announcements coming from some officials about the possible nationalization of some of our assets. Well, this can be taken very far. Let no one forget that this is a double-edged weapon," he cautioned on Tuesday.

Comment: The threat has been on the table for almost a month now. Imagine the howls if/when Russia makes good on it.

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Cell Phone

Durham Filing: Text message implicates Hillary Clinton campaign in 'conspiracy'

Joel B.Pollak
Breitbart
Tue, 05 Apr 2022 00:00 UTC
John H. Durham
© U.S. Department of Justice via AP
A text message unveiled by Special Counsel John H. Durham Monday appears to provide evidence that Michael Sussmann, a lawyer for the Hillary Clinton campaign, misled the FBI when reporting claims about candidate Donald Trump and Russia.

The text message is being described as a "smoking gun" by some observers because it appears to be written corroboration of charges against Sussmann. Furthermore, evidence in Durham's filing also implicates the Clinton campaign in a "conspiracy."

Sussmann is on trial for lying to the FBI, allegedly because he presented himself as a concerned citizen rather than a lawyer working for the Clinton campaign. His claims about a Trump connection to Russia via Alfa Bank were debunked as a hoax.
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Eye 1

Ice Age Farmer Report: Biden pays farms to STOP - EU out of feed - Meat taxes & chicken permits - Up to you to GROW FOOD!


Ice Age Farmer
Sat, 02 Apr 2022 16:59 UTC
food
Even as Biden and Trudeau announce food shortages, farmers are being paid to STOP farming. Chickens are now "illegal animals" in more municipalities, requiring a permit, "due to bird flu." The EU is culling livestock as they run out of animal feed, and the Netherlands is seriously considering a meat tax. -- And yet, there is a resurgence of regenerative agriculture and community victory gardens, as people realize it is UP TO US to feed our families going forward! Christian breaks down the latest developments in the Food Wars in this Ice Age Farmer broadcast.


Sources
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Bad Guys

Biden, Zelensky and the Neocons: When you are in a hole, you can always dig deeper

Philip Giraldi
The Unz Review
Tue, 05 Apr 2022 00:00 UTC
Biden
There are many backstories surfacing from what is going on in Ukraine and Washington that have been largely ignored amid the drumbeat of casualty counts combined with claims and counter-claims from the two sides. Two stories that I believe have received insufficient attention are the US government's three decades long obsession with weakening and de facto destroying the Russian state and the dominant neocon plus associate liberal democracy promoter role in what has become American foreign policy.

To be sure, anyone who doubts that the US is currently on a course to not only replace President Vladimir Putin but also to crash the Russian economy is delusional. Washington has been trying to deconstruct the former Soviet Union ever since 1991, beginning with President Bill Clinton's expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe in spite of a pledge not to do so and his unleashing the oligarchs who looted the country's natural resources under President Boris Yeltsin. The pressure continued under the beatified President Barack Obama, who appointed as Ambassador Michael McFaul, who saw his mission as connecting with dissidents and opposition forces inside Russia, a role incompatible with his promotion of US interests and protecting US persons.
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Dollar Gold

The Coming Global Financial Revolution: Russia Is Following the American Playbook

Ellen Brown
Web of Debt
Wed, 06 Apr 2022 10:29 UTC
Russian gold bar
A Russian gold bar showing President Putin and Moscow.


No country has successfully challenged the U.S. dollar's global hegemony — until now. How did this happen and what will it mean?

Foreign critics have long chafed at the "exorbitant privilege" of the U.S. dollar as global reserve currency. The U.S. can issue this currency backed by nothing but the "full faith and credit of the United States." Foreign governments, needing dollars, not only accept them in trade but buy U.S. securities with them, effectively funding the U.S. government and its foreign wars. But no government has been powerful enough to break that arrangement - until now. How did that happen and what will it mean for the U.S. and global economies?

The Rise and Fall of the PetroDollar

First, some history: The U.S. dollar was adopted as the global reserve currency at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, when the dollar was still backed by gold on global markets. The agreement was that gold and the dollar would be accepted interchangeably as global reserves, the dollars to be redeemable in gold on demand at $35 an ounce. Exchange rates of other currencies were fixed against the dollar.

Comment: See also:

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