Neil Oliver
Puppet Masters
Neil Oliver
But first - a short review. The Clintons, through their foundation, fleeced Haiti to the tune of Billions following the 2010 earthquake which killed an estimated 220,000 people.
- Hillary Clinton's State Department pressured Haiti to suppress minimum wage in sweatshops in order to benefit US clothing manufacturers.
- Clinton Foundation donors were were handed government contracts to clean up in the aftermath of the earthquake.
- Bill Clinton intervened in the jail sentence of Laura Silsby, a convicted child trafficker who attempted to smuggle 33 children out of Haiti.
- A former Haitian government official set to expose the Clinton Foundation's misdeeds in Haiti shot himself in the head a week before he was able to testify.
- The Clinton Foundation even grifted Haiti's lime industry.
- Haiti's former Senate president said Hillary Clinton 'tried to bribe me!'
© Karen Minasian/AFP
Azerbaijani soldiers patrol at a checkpoint on a road outside the town of Shushi (Susa) Nagorno-Karabakh, November 26, 2020
Azerbaijani soldiers patrol at a checkpoint on a road outside the town of Shushi (Susa) Nagorno-Karabakh, November 26, 2020
The Kremlin considers the escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh as military action conducted by Azerbaijan within its own territory, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
The remark came on Wednesday in response to complaints from Armenia that Russian peacekeepers deployed in the region were not doing their job properly.
Peskov explained that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recognizes Azerbaijan's borders to be the same as the administrative borders of Soviet Azerbaijan at the time of the nation's dissolution in 1991. Nagorno-Karabakh was part of the republic at the time.
© BBC
PM Rishi Sunak
PM Rishi Sunak
In a dramatic policy shift, he is set to delay the switch to electric vehicles and slow the phasing-out of gas boilers. Pushing back the petrol and diesel ban from 2030 to 2035 would be a victory for the Mail's campaign to rethink the deadline.
The Prime Minister will set out the changes in a speech in which he will recommit to hitting 'net zero' carbon emissions by 2050, a target enshrined in law. But he will argue that the goal can be met with a more 'pragmatic' approach that does not force onerous changes on the public. Ministers believe the plan could help transform Tory fortunes and assist households struggling with the high cost of living.
Last night Mr Sunak said:
"Governments of all stripes have not been honest about costs and trade-offs. Instead they have taken the easy way out, saying we can have it all. This realism doesn't mean losing our ambition or abandoning our commitments. Far from it. I am proud that Britain is leading the world on climate change.The Prime Minister confirmed that he had planned a speech in which he is expected to point out the UK is already a world leader in cutting emissions and argue that further changes must be 'realistic and pragmatic'.
"We are committed to net zero by 2050 and the agreements we have made internationally - but doing so in a better, more proportionate way. Our politics must again put the long-term interests of our country before the short-term political needs of the moment."
© Getty Images/Image Source
The global debt pile soared by $10 trillion to a record high of $307 trillion in the first half of 2023, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) reported on Tuesday. It added that the US, UK, and Japan are among the markets driving the rise.
The high interest rate environment seen across most economies has sent the figure surging, making the current debt stock $100 trillion higher than it was a decade ago, according to the IIF.
"After witnessing declines of seven consecutive quarters, the global debt-to-GDP ratio has resumed its upward trajectory in the first two quarters of this year, now hovering around 336% - up from 334% in Q4 2022," the report stated.
Over 80% of the debt buildup came from mature markets, with the US, Japan, the UK, and France registering the largest increases. In emerging markets, the rise has been more pronounced in China, India, and Brazil, the IIF said.
The report also warned that domestic government debt is at "alarming levels" in many emerging market countries. Meanwhile, "consumer debt burdens remain largely manageable in mature markets, allowing additional room for further central bank tightening should inflationary pressures persist," the IIF stated.
Comment: Case in point:
Britain will face one of the highest inflation rates of any major developed economy this year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed on Tuesday.Like dominoes falling.
UK inflation, which only recently fell to single digits for the first time since last summer, will average 7.2% this year, the Paris-based organization said in its latest Economic Outlook report.
The rate of price growth in the UK was the fastest among the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialized nations and the third fastest across the Group of Twenty (G20). Economists attributed this to fuel price fluctuations.
The OECD downgraded the UK's growth forecast for 2024 from 1% to only 0.8%, pointing to the "significant risks" the country is facing.
The UK's economic outlook has dimmed since June, following fourteen consecutive interest rate hikes by the Bank of England that have squeezed the country's output. Even with a moderate rebound next year, the OECD predicted that Britain will be lagging behind the vast majority of the G20 countries.
The report said:"Activity has already weakened in the euro area and the United Kingdom, reflecting the lagged effect on incomes from the large energy price shock in 2022 and the comparative importance of bank-based finance in many European economies."The OECD maintained its estimated 0.3% growth in British GDP this year, which, if realized, would be the second worst economic performance among the G7 after Germany, which has already entered a recession.
© James Manning/PA Images via Getty Images
Russell Brand leaves the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre in north-west London after performing a comedy set on September 16, 2023
Russell Brand leaves the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre in north-west London after performing a comedy set on September 16, 2023
Last week, the controversial comedian and movie star Russell Brand became the latest high-profile target of the #MeToo movement.
This should not come as a complete surprise, given his celebrity status and sordid history of self-confessed promiscuity. Brand has been a potential target in waiting for some years - and it was probably just a matter of time before the movement zeroed in on him.
The attack on Brand followed the well-rehearsed, standard #MeToo modus operandi. A number of anonymous women, none of whom could ever hope to attain the celebrity status of their male target, have accused Brand of various kinds of sexual misconduct - including, most seriously, rape.
These alleged acts occurred some years ago, and none were reported to the police at the time they supposedly occurred. Nor have these acts been reported to the police even now.
Sen Mitch McConnell freezes during a press conference
As the national security workforce ages, dementia impacting U.S. officials poses a threat to national security, according to a first-of-its-kind study by a Pentagon-funded think tank. The report, released this spring, came as several prominent U.S. officials trusted with some of the nation's most highly classified intelligence experienced public lapses, stoking calls for resignations and debate about Washington's aging leadership.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who had a second freezing episode last month, enjoys the most privileged access to classified information of anyone in Congress as a member of the so-called Gang of Eight congressional leadership. Ninety-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., whose decline has seen her confused about how to vote and experiencing memory lapses — forgetting conversations and not recalling a monthslong absence — was for years a member of the Gang of Eight and remains a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on which she has served since 2001.
The study, published by the RAND Corporation's National Security Research Division in April, identifies individuals with both current and former access to classified material who develop dementia as threats to national security, citing the possibility that they may unwittingly disclose government secrets.
Comment: Time for them to retire. They've all made enough money.
- Country for old politicians: US gerontocracy wins big, with more years in Congress for Pelosi, 80, McConnell, 78, & other seniors
- Mitch McConnell rushed to hospital after falling at hotel
- Ironic: Nancy Pelosi suffers brain freeze while questioning Trump's fitness to be president
- Pelosi melts down again - suffers 16 brain freezes in 15 minute presser
- Feinstein's concern about Trump's ability to do job rises "by the day" - says woman suffering senile dementia
- Dianne Feinstein's daughter holds power of attorney over ailing senator amid family finance fight
- 'Full support' from Trump for term limits push in Congress
Long-range cruise missiles supplied by UK and France, hit Russia’s Black Sea fleet at its home port of Sevastopol, Sept 13, 2023
Hence the ingenuity of the Biden Administration to explore Plan B counseling Kiev to be realistic about loss of territory and pragmatically seek dialogue with Moscow. This was the bitter message that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken transmitted to Kiev recently in person.
But President Zelensky's caustic reaction in a subsequent interview with the Economist magazine is revealing. He hit back that the western leaders still talk the good talk, pledging they will stand with Ukraine "as long as it takes" (Biden mantra), but he, Zelensky, has detected a change of mood among some of his partners: "I have this intuition, reading, hearing and seeing their eyes [when they say] 'we'll be always with you.' But I see that he or she is not here, not with us." Certainly, Zelensky is reading the body language right, as in the absence of an overwhelming military success shortly, western support for Ukraine is time-limited.
Comment: Col. Douglas MacGregor's key point and assessment of Washington's position in this war: "God help us all - because this doesn't make sense."
Any nation, or bloc of nations, that bids for dominance within the United Nations' regime is seeking to maximise its, or their, influence. But they can never lead the UN because it represents the interests of a global public-private partnership (G3P) dominated by oligarchs, not nation states or their respective populations.
In the recent BRICS XV Johannesburg II Declaration, the member states collectively announced:
We reiterate our commitment to inclusive multilateralism and upholding international law, including the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations (UN) as its indispensable cornerstone, and the central role of the UN in an international system in which sovereign states cooperate.
© Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP
Lukyanivska prison in Kiev, Ukraine.
Lukyanivska prison in Kiev, Ukraine.
Ukrainian lawmaker Sergey Grivko has suggested using the country's prison population as a source of electricity. According to the MP from the ruling Servant of the People party, inmates could use bicycle generators in exchange for shortened jail terms.
In a Facebook post, Grivko revealed that he had "one of my creative bills registered" for consideration by the country's parliament, TASS reported on Tuesday. He explained that he was aiming to "motivate 50,000 inmates to generate electricity with the help of bicycle generators."
Comment: The idea that " bicycle generators will fill the country's power grid" is too stupid and unreal even for a cartoon. Have they all gone crazy?
It is a good idea that everyone who enters politics or any other position of power should inevitably have some IQ test and head check first.
See also:
- Russia will NOT sell electricity to Ukraine, cites breach of previous contract regarding Crimea
- About 80 settlements in south Ukraine remain without power following heavy snowfall
- Kiev cuts off Lugansk electricity but Russia steps in to help
- Winning hearts and minds: Kiev cuts electricity supply to Donetsk
- No power, no problem: Ukraine avoids an electricity crisis by sabotaging its coal industry
Comment: It's widely held that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wants to 'unload' the disputed territory, blaming Russia in the process, in order to clear the way for Armenia to join the European Union, which would not be possible if the country is involved in an armed conflict. The Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh rightfully feel abandoned by their neighbor without any consultation whatever.