Puppet MastersS


USA

Best of the Web: US tells Ukraine to offer Russia 'sanctions deal' if it agrees to end military operation


RT
Sun, 03 Apr 2022 20:11 UTC
Blinken
© Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/AP.jpgSecretary Antony Blinken
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has received a green light from Washington to offer Russia relief from international sanctions in exchange for ending its military offensive against the former Soviet republic.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened the door to such an offer on Sunday, confirming in an NBC News interview that Zelensky has the ability to negotiate sanctions relief for peace. He said President Joe Biden's administration will support whatever the Ukrainian people want to do to bring the war to an end.

"We'll be looking to see what Ukraine is doing and what it wants to do," Blinken said. "And if it concludes that it can bring this war to an end, stop the death and destruction and continue to assert its independence and its sovereignty - and ultimately that requires the lifting of sanctions - of course, we will allow that."


Comment: That's nice of the US to them to do that; what was that they were saying about sovereignty?


Comment: Contrary to the propaganda media messaging, this 'offer' not only reveals that the sanctions aren't working, but also that Ukraine is losing.

Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Bucha False-Flag - Sanctions Gas Theater - BRICS Dismantling Dollar Domination



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Russian Flag

Latvia may agree to pay for Russian gas in rubles


RT
Mon, 04 Apr 2022 20:52 UTC
change
© Getty Images / blinow61
Latvia's main gas operator says it won't rule out paying for Russian natural gas in rubles, revealing that the new settlement method announced by Moscow is being evaluated from a legal and business perspective.

"According to the first impression, the settlement procedure in Russian rubles does not formally violate the sanctions regime and is possible," Latvijas Gaze said in a statement.

Earlier, Aigars Kalvitis, the board chairman of Latvijas Gaze, which is partially owned by Russia's Gazprom, said the company couldn't pay for natural gas supplies from Russia in rubles, since the current contract stipulates that all transactions must be made in euro.
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Stock Up

Russia may collect $321 billion windfall if oil and gas keep flowing


Bloomberg
Fri, 01 Apr 2022 20:18 UTC
oil refinery russia
© BloombergOil and gas account for about half of Russia’s exports.
Goldman, IIF expect record current-account surplus for Russia

Russia's economy has staggered through the first full month of the war with Ukraine but it may yet emerge with a sparkling balance sheet if some of its biggest trade partners don't turn off the tap on its exports of energy.

For all the hardships visited on consumers at home and the financial chokehold put on the government from abroad, Bloomberg Economics expects Russia will earn nearly $321 billion from energy exports this year, an increase of more than a third from 2021. It's also on track for a record current-account surplus that the Institute of International Finance says may reach as high as $240 billion.

Comment: Russia has deep gold reserves, and is the richest country in the world in terms of resources. It is friends and trading partners with the most populous nations (i.e., largest markets) in the world, China and India, with many other minor partners ready to do business. Bloomberg is whistling past the graveyard with this faux gloomy assessment of Russia's future prospects. It's the U.S. that should be worried.

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House

Report says Secret Service renting $30K Malibu pad to protect Hunter Biden

Mark Moore
New York Post
Mon, 04 Apr 2022 19:54 UTC
hunter biden home malibu
© MLS.comHunter Biden's Malibu crib
​Taxpayers are shelling out more than $30,000 a month so the Secret Service can rent an estate in the upscale celebrity enclave of Malibu to protect Hunter Biden, who is living nearby in a "resort-style" home with "enchanting" panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, according to a new report on Monday.

A former Secret Service agent told ABC News the setup is the "cost of doing business" for the agency, since Hunter — like other presidential family members — is entitled to round-the-clock security.

"Typically, wherever a protectee sets up their residence, the Secret Service is forced to find someplace to rent nearby at market value," retired agent Don Mihalek told the network, adding that the agency also rents properties at Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, as part of its duty to protect President Biden on his frequent weekend trips home.

Comment: Secret Service on site? That might cramp Hunter's style.

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Better Earth

The Ukraine: A decisive transfer of the balance of power from west to east

Cameron Leckie
Pearls and Irritations
Wed, 30 Mar 2022 00:00 UTC
Econ connects
© Wikimedia CommonsEconomic connections: Western powers overestimate the impact of sanctions on Russia.
The 2022 Russo-Ukraine is also a proxy war between Russia and the Western world. We should be prepared for a decisive transfer of the balance of power from West to East...The bulk of the fighting is in the Donbas where there are few or no Western journalists.

Most of the debate and coverage of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war in Australia and the Western world is decidedly banal. It is characterised by the simplification of an extremely complex situation to generate a narrative that can be summarised as Putin and Russia are evil and Ukraine is good.

This gross simplification is not helpful in either understanding the causes of the war, the nature of the war, its broader implications and most importantly of all, how it can be ended with the least number of additional deaths and injuries and damage to Ukraine's infrastructure.

Comment: Pragmatic decisions are the only solution to this conundrum, unlikely to be made by the West to their collective detriment. Ultimately, the West will be forced to redefine.

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Bad Guys

Pointless protraction, wanton wrongdoing

gpovanman
gpovanman.wordpress.com
Sun, 03 Apr 2022 00:00 UTC
Ukraine destruct
© Murad GazdievScene of destruction from Ukraine
Preamble.

With Russia now moving towards the second phase of its Special Operation, questions are being asked by both Moscow and knowing military minds as to why Kiev is acting as it is. Recent discoveries however will be pressing far harder for answers, both from the Ukrainian leadership (apparently still in Kiev) as well as the western nations that are backing it to the hilt. This article will examine why the situation developed as it did and why the Ukrainians, both government and troops are acting as they are.

Bleak Prospects.

In all truth, the Ukraine had slowly slid down a very slippery slope since it gained independence in 1991, yet it was only after 2014 that the country, (obviously minus the Donbass and Crimea) went into true freefall. A blend of both corruption and a war governed from afar ensured very bleak prospects for a land that was still led in a most corrupt fashion. Fast forward to this year, and with great discontent amongst the majority of the population that had not already gone to Russia coupled with a collapsing infrastructure and a push for war this summer meant the country was a wreck before the car crash of Russian invasion even happened.
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Bizarro Earth

WHO demands abortion at any time for any reason throughout the world

Wesley J. Smith
Evolution News
Mon, 04 Apr 2022 06:30 UTC
World Health Org
© WHOWorld Health Organization
It's often said that no right is absolute. But according to the World Health Organization (WHO), that maxim doesn't apply to abortion. Its newly published "Abortion Care Guideline" is the most radically pro-abortion official document ever published (pdf). Indeed, in recommending abortion public policies for all the world's nations to adopt, the WHO not only assumes that abortion is a fundamental human right but also demands that access to terminations be guaranteed universally without any restrictions whatsoever.

Reflecting the WHO's culturally imperialistic intent, the guideline oozes with the lexicon of Western political progressivism. It begins by stating:
"In this guideline ... we also recognize that cisgender women, transgender men, nonbinary, gender-fluid and intersex individuals with a female reproductive system and capable of becoming pregnant may require abortion care."
To say the least, most people in the world don't talk like that. Moreover, embracing the ideology of the transgender movement is a questionable strategy for persuading religious, tribal, and other culturally conservative societies to go quietly along with the WHO's absolutist abortion agenda.

But then, persuasion isn't really the point. Issuing diktats from on high is.
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Dollars

Goldman Sachs warns the dollar is at risk of losing its dominance, and could end up a lesser player like the UK pound

Harry Robertson
Markets Insider
Fri, 01 Apr 2022 11:47 UTC
Printpress
© scanrail/Getty ImagesConcerns the dollar's dominance could be declining
Goldman Sachs has warned the US dollar faces risks that could erode its global dominance, saying it's dealing with some of the same challenges that the British pound faced in the early 1900s.

The move by the US and its allies to freeze Russia's central bank out of much of its foreign currency reserves has raised concerns that countries could start moving away from using the dollar, due to worries about the power the currency grants the US.

Goldman's research note, released Thursday, is a sign major investors are taking the risks to the dollar seriously.

The bank's analysts, including economist Cristina Tessari, said the dollar faces a number of challenges similar to those faced by the British pound before it declined. The pound was once the world's reserve currency, but was supplanted by the dollar in the middle of the 20th century.

Comment: The 'monetary handwriting' is on the wall for the US Dollar.

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Arrow Up

Orban declares victory in Hungarian election


RT
Sun, 03 Apr 2022 20:48 UTC
Orban/Wife
© Janos Kummer/Getty ImagesVictor Orban and his wife cast ballots in Budapest
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has declared himself the winner of Sunday's elections in Hungary as his conservative Fidesz-KDNP party holds on to a comfortable lead amid the vote-counting. As of 9pm local time, the party is ahead with 59.99% of the votes, with 23.03% of party-list ballots counted.

Despite the six leading opposition parties uniting to try to knock out Orban's government under its banner, United for Hungary has only 28.89% of the vote thus far, with right-wing nationalist party Our Home (Mi Hazánk) trailing in third at 6.58%.

Pollsters Medián had forecast a 49% win for Fidesz to 41% for United for Hungary, with Our Home expected to tie with joke party Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party (MKKP) for third place, with 4.5% of the vote. Budapest Business Journal has explained Fidesz's lead may shrink as many urban districts around the capital have not yet reported their results, while all votes from the rural areas, home to Orban's most enthusiastic supporters, are more likely to have been counted.

While United for Hungary attempted to smear Orban as a 'Russian puppet' in the days leading up to the vote, the Hungarian leader's refusal to completely cut off relations with Moscow has been seen by supporters as pragmatic, given the European nation gets most of its energy from Russia and has no alternative sources available to meet all its fuel needs in the event of an embargo.

"This isn't our war, we have to stay out of it," the premier said during a campaign rally on Friday, shutting down critics by pointing out that Ukrainian President "Zelensky is not voting today" nor is Russian President Vladimir "Putin...running in the Hungarian elections."

Comment: The election in Serbia has also culminated in a repeat win for Vucic:
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has declared himself the winner of Sunday's presidential election, as polls close and an early projection places him far enough ahead to avoid a runoff election. An analysis by the Center for Free Elections and Democracy has given Vucic 59% of the votes, a comfortable margin of victory.

Speaking from his party headquarters, the incumbent leader declared "Serbia will remain on the European and reformist path, but also friends with Russia and China." The country is currently in the process of joining the EU, but has declined to cut off all relations with Moscow amid the conflict in Ukraine, unlike many of its NATO-member neighbors.

As in neighboring Hungary, which also held parliamentary elections on Sunday, Serbia's opposition attempted to paint the incumbent as a Russian puppet, even as most Serbians support neutrality for their country - especially given deep-seated resentments of NATO arising from the alliance's 1999 bombing campaign.

While Vucic joined most European countries in condemning the Russian attack on Ukraine in the United Nations, he has not followed them into the all-out sanctions pile-on, noting that Belgrade depends on Moscow for much of its energy and other resources and to impose draconian sanctions could backfire significantly.


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Red Pill

Reverse-read the Ukraine war without outsmarting yourself - a guide

John Helmer
Dances with Bears
Sun, 03 Apr 2022 17:04 UTC
Brer rabbit tar baby
This is not, repeat not, the tar baby story of the Afro-Americans and American Indians. The US and NATO allies aren't the fox, Russia isn't the rabbit, except that the Ukraine is the tar baby.

The reason US commanders were confident Russia would move into the Ukraine when they did was that they made certain the Russian General Staff understood that if they failed to move west, they would be attacked themselves east across the Ukraine front, north against Belgorod and Voronezh, south against Crimea and Rostov; and at the same time the US would launch its blitzkrieg to destroy the Russian economy. The Ukrainian plan of land attack was the feint; the sanctions war was the main thrust at Moscow.

In last year's manual of what is called the Russian Strategic Initiative of the US European Command in Stuttgart, the Russian Army's strategy of "active defense" was reported to start with "preventative measures taken before a conflict breaks out, to deter it". Thereafter would follow
"a defensive-offense that envisions persistent engagement of an opponent throughout the theatre of military action to include critical infrastructure in their homeland, executing strategic operations that affect an adversary's ability or will to sustain the struggle."
Aiming at "achieving surprise, decisiveness and continuity of strategy action", the US command has been expecting Russian "warfighting defined by fire, strike and maneuver where tactical formations engage each other at distance".
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