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Best of the Web: Macron tells NATO Russia must come in from the Cold War

Macron Putin
Last week I went through just some of the highlights as to why Russia is becoming a destination for global capital.

For years it's been a little lonely out here banging on about how well the Russian state headed by Vladimir Putin has navigated an immense campaign by the West to marginalize and/or isolate Russia from the world economy.

But that is changing rapidly. And 2020 will likely be the year the New Cold War begins to end. And it starts with Europe. In recent weeks there have been a number of moves made on both sides to end the economic isolation of Russia by Europe.

As always, however, it begins politically. French President Emmanuel Macron speaking at a press conference before 70th Anniversary NATO Summit in London no less, made it clear that he no longer wants the EU positioning itself as an adversary of Russia or China.

Standing next to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Macron put a further down payment that he is looking to replace German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the person setting the tone for European Foreign Policy.

Comment: See also:


Star of David

Best of the Web: Britain's Chief Rabbi is helping to stoke antisemitism

Rabbi Efraim Mirvis
© Still from ChiefRabbi.orgChief Rabbi Efraim Mirvis
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has not only misrepresented the known facts about Labour and its supposed antisemitism crisis. He has not only interfered in an overtly, politically partisan manner in the December 12 election campaign by suggesting that Jeremy Corbyn - against all evidence - is an antisemite.

By speaking out as the voice of British Jews - a false claim he has allowed the UK media to promote - his unprecedented meddling in the election of Britain's next leader has actually made the wider Jewish community in the UK much less safe. Mirvis is contributing to the very antisemitism he says he wants to eradicate.

Mirvis' intervention in the election campaign makes sense only if he believes in one of two highly improbable scenarios.

Comment: The evidence of Israel and its acolytes meddling in UK (and international) affairs abounds: And check out SOTT radio's:


Snakes in Suits

Best of the Web: NATO at 70: The sclerotic & bureaucratic zombie should be pensioned off

nato brussels
Seventy is normally considered a ripe old age at which people should be enjoying retirement. The NATO alliance, which meets to celebrate its anniversary in London, should have been pensioned off long ago.

The French president, who told the Economist in early November that NATO was "brain dead", seems determined to jolt the alliance and its members out of their collective coma. In a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Paris on November 28, Macron tried to inject a large dose of realism and clarity into a body which years ago haemorrhaged into a sclerotic and bureaucratic zombie.

Macron's shock therapy consists of asking the one question which, according to the German political theorist Carl Schmitt (although Macron did not quote him), constitutes the very essence of politics itself: "Who is the enemy?" Without an answer to this question, a military alliance has no purpose whatever. The fact that Emmanuel Macron had to ask it at all shows how badly NATO has lost the plot; in the theatre of the absurd, the Atlantic alliance is a character in search of an author.

NATO lists so many threats in its official Strategic Concepts of 1999 and 2010 that it sounds like Piglet in Winnie the Pooh, frightened of everything... terrorism; piracy; ethnic violence; inadequate economic reform; threats to energy supplies; arms proliferation; drug trafficking; cyber attacks; laser weapons; electronic warfare; health risks; climate change; even undefined "instability." Yet, the word "enemy" is nowhere in the mountain of challenges NATO says it faces.

Comment: After the end of Cold War NATO contributed generously to the dismemberment of Yugoslavia and that of Libya, offered a hand in the illegal wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and assured its expansion up to the borders of Russia, just to name a few of its activities. Despite its munificent nature however, the entire world will breathe a sigh of relief once it is gone for good!


Cheese

White House threatens to sanction $2.4bn worth of French imports in retaliation for digital tax targeting US tech giants


Comment: The US is pretending this is all a 'response' to 'EU protectionism', 'forgetting' that it started this trade war...


Roquefort
© REUTERS/Philippe WojazerFILE PHOTO: Pieces of French Roquefort blue cheese are displayed in a shop in Paris
The US has proposed new tariffs on over two billion dollars in French goods, retaliating to a "digital tax" which it says "discriminates" against American products. Some of the products could be penalized by 100 percent.

The new levies could target trade in handbags, sparkling wines, cheeses, makeup products and other household goods, valued at $2.4 billion in total, the office of the US trade representative said on Monday.

"France's Digital Services Tax is unreasonable or discriminatory and burdens or restricts U.S. commerce," the statement read, proposing "additional duties of up to 100 percent on products of France."

Comment: See also:


Light Saber

Trump campaign refuses to credential Bloomberg News reporters

Trump Michael Bloomberg
© Drew Angerer, Alex Wong/Getty ImagesMichael Bloomberg and Donald Trump (inset)
President Donald Trump's re-election campaign announced Monday that it will no longer provide credentials to Bloomberg News reporters after the corporate news outlet ended investigations into 2020 Democrat candidates in the wake of its billionaire owner, Michael Bloomberg, launching a bid for the presidency.

Late last month, Bloomberg joined the crowded Democrat primary field, prompting Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait to announce that the news organization would refrain from investigating the owner and his family, calling the decision a "tradition" of journalism. However, Micklethwait said reporters will continue to investigate President Trump and his administration.

"The decision by Bloomberg News to formalize preferential reporting policies is troubling and wrong," Brad Parscale, President Trump's 2020 campaign manager, said in a statement Monday.

Comment: Michael Bloomberg may be in for a rough road despite his deep personal campaign pockets. And in an echo of a comment on Bill Clinton and 'the famous (Epstein) island' made in 2015, Trump hints there may be some interesting skeletons in Bloomberg's background.

Trump on Bloomberg: 'He's got some personal problems' - Preparations for 2020's US Presidential run begin


Star of David

Rogue state: Netanyahu begs for just 6 months more as PM so he can annex Jordan Valley

Netanyahu
© Menahem Kahana/AFPBenjamin Netanyahu speaks before a map of the Jordan Valley, which he wants to annex.
Benjamin Netanyahu's playing the security card in an effort to stay in power. Six months as premier in a national unity government will be enough for him to annex a large swath of the West Bank... and become immune from prosecution.

The Jordan Valley, the eastern part of West Bank bordering Jordan, was targeted by Netanyahu in September ahead of Israel's second general election this year. The embattled prime minister promised that, if he stays in power, he would annex the area as Israel's sovereign land, because that's what is needed for national security.

How big an impact his pledge made is not clear, but Netanyahu's Likud party ended up almost tied with the Blue and White party of Benny Gantz. The outcome was just as inconclusive as the one from April's election, and the two parties have since been struggling to form a government of national unity.

On Monday Netanyahu repeated his annexation pledge, saying he'd discussed the plan to formally incorporate the Jordan Valley with US President Donald Trump during an earlier phone call. He said Israel currently has a "historic opportunity" to move its eastern border towards Jordan and called on Gantz to work harder on a coalition agreement.

Comment: See also:


Arrow Up

Trump reinstates Brazil, Argentina steel tariffs; reason is farm woes

Steel pipe
© Loren Elliott/BloombergSteel pipes sit stacked at the Port of Houston, Texas.
President Donald Trump is reinstating tariffs on steel and aluminum from Argentina and Brazil, nations he criticized for cheapening their currencies to the detriment of U.S. farmers, and he again called on the Federal Reserve to loosen monetary policy.

Linking his trade agenda with his Fed criticism in an early morning tweet, he said the two South American countries "have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies, which is not good for our farmers."

The president's action amounts to retaliation against two nations that have become alternative suppliers of soybeans and other agricultural products to China, grabbing market share away from the U.S. Rural voters, including farmers, are a key constituency for Trump as he heads into the 2020 presidential elections.

While the steel tariffs could crimp trade, the Latin American countries gain much more shipping crops to Chinese buyers. In the first 10 months of the year, Brazil has shipped $25.5 billion in farm products including soybeans and pork to China. That's more than 10 times the value of steel and iron product sold to the U.S.

Star of David

Odeh blasts Netanyahu as a 'dangerous psychopath' who targets Arabs and left-wing Jews

Odeh and Tibi
© David Cohen/Flash90Joint List MKs Ayman Odeh and Ahmad Tibi attend a protest against violence, organized crime and recent killings in the Arab communities, Majd al-Krum, October 3, 2019.
Israel's top Arab lawmaker on Saturday called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "psychopath" and accused him of stirring trouble for those who oppose him.

"Netanyahu's hatred and violence spread like wildfire. Arabs, left-wing Jews, journalists, the judicial system and even members of his own party" were being ideologically attacked, Joint List head Ayman Odeh wrote on Twitter.

"The outgoing prime minister is a dangerous psychopath who knows no boundaries. A criminal with his back to the wall. Does anyone doubt that he will deny a political motive for the next murder?" Odeh wrote.

The rebuke came hours after Joint List lawmaker Ahmad Tibi was accosted on Saturday by several dozen right-wing activists at a Shabbat cultural and political event in the central town of Ramat Hasharon. Protesters held placards accusing Tibi of being a "terrorist" and "murderer," Channel 12 news reported. One sign declared "You're not wanted here!" while another said "Terrorist supporters — not in our city."

Comment: It would appear the 'age of Netanyahu' is over and his mask is coming off in a grand public reveal. Perhaps his 'truths' told over the past decade will also be exposed for the manipulative and corruptive fallacies they are.

See also:


Rocket

'Iran's surprise for the enemy': A new submarine-launched cruise missile now in mass production

Jask Missile
© UnknownIranian Jask Missile
Iran has launched mass production of its new submarine-launched Jask cruise missile, the country's Navy chief has said, adding that work on upgraded versions of the weapon is already in progress.

Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi was speaking in Tehran on Saturday at an event showcasing new weaponry and other military projects that his force has been involved with. Announcing the launch of the Jask cruise missile's mass production, Khanzadi said the munition will be used by all the subs of Iran's Navy.

While the official did not share any special characteristics of the missile, it's known that the Jask can be fired out of a submarine's torpedo tubes and takes off from the water. The missile was first shown in action to the public this February, during the massive Veleyat-97 naval drills.

The range of the Jask-type munitions is expected to be improved "substantially" in the future, Khanzadi said, revealing that a 'Jask-2 project' was already underway. The expanded range of the missile "will surely be a serious surprise for the enemy," the official added.

Comment:




Oil Well

Move over, Anglo-America: China is buying up key Iraqi and Iranian oil fields

qurna oil field iraq
The West Qurna-1 oil field in Iraq
Ever since the U.S. signalled through its effective withdrawal from Syria that it now has little interest in becoming involved in military actions in the Middle East, the door has been fully opened to China and Russia to advance their ambitions in the region. For Russia, the Middle East offers a key military pivot from which it can project influence West and East and that it can use to capture and control massive oil and gas flows in both directions as well. For China, the Middle East - and, absolutely vitally, Iran and Iraq - are irreplaceable stepping stones towards Europe for its era-defining 'One Belt, One Road' project. Earlier this week an announcement was made by Iraq's Oil Ministry that highlights each of these factors at play, through a relatively innocuous-sounding contract award to a relatively unknown Chinese firm.

Specifically, it was announced that China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp (CPECC) has been awarded a US$121 million engineering contract to upgrade the facilities that are used to extract gas during crude oil production at the supergiant West Qurna-1 oilfield in Iraq, 50 kilometres northwest of the principal oil hub of Basra. The project is due to be completed within 27 months and aims to increase the capture of gas currently being flared across the site. Two factors that were not highlighted in the general announcement were firstly that CPECC is a subsidiary of China's principal political proxy in the oil and gas sector, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), and secondly that the gas capture project will also include the development of the oil reserves at West Qurna 1. The current level of oil reserves at West Qurna 1 is just under nine billion barrels but, crucially, the site is part of the overall massive West Qurna reservoir that comprises at least 43 billion barrels of crude oil reserves. "For China, it's always all about positioning itself so that it is perfectly placed to expand its foothold," a senior oil and gas industry source who works closely with Iraq's Oil Ministry told OilPrice.com earlier this week.

Comment: Once again China demonstrates its ability to think in decades rather than years. The West will be left wondering how they were dethroned as 'the industrial world center'.