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France's First Lady Brigitte Macron loses 'transgender lawsuit'

Brigitte Macron transexual
Brigitte Macron, the First Lady of France, filed a complaint last year against two women who uploaded a YouTube video titled "Brigitte Macron is a man." The video alleged that Brigitte had a gender reassignment at 18.

On Wednesday, the French newspaper Le Point reported that Brigitte's complaint against the two women was "voided" by a Paris Judge.
In its decision, consulted by AFP, the court declared void the summons issued by Brigitte Macron for invasion of privacy and image rights, considering that the facts she denounced should have been qualified of public defamation.

Brigitte Macron, her brother, and the three children of the First Lady had assigned two women on February 15, 2022, one presenting herself as a "medium," the other as an "independent journalist."

They asked the court to condemn these two women to pay them damages for having broadcast on the YouTube channel of the "medium", on December 10, 2021, "a perfectly eccentric thesis" according to which Brigitte Macron, born Trogneux, does not would never have existed, but that his brother would have taken on this identity after changing sex.

Comment: See also: Macron emails lead to allegations of homosexual adventurism, drug use and Rothschild money

macron gay



Pirates

Alastair Crooke: EU's Von der Leyen to meet Biden to discuss addressing 'China threat' - be worried!

von der leyen biden

NATO is quietly 'moving on' from Ukraine -- towards Cold War with China while the US is cooking an 'unprecedented' sanctions-led Cold War on Beijing.
In a recent interview, Nicholas Burns, the US Ambassador to China, after labelling China the 'threat', bluntly said: "We're the leader in this [Indo-Pacific] region. [And We're] staying". The interviewer, US Congressman Mike Gallagher, described America's new Cold War as no polite tennis match, but an existential struggle for life in the 21st century.

President Xi's earlier attempt to reach a 'new détente' with the US during the November G20 at Bali -- effectively an attempt to explore whether a minimum modus vivendi with US were possible -- is over.

The hysteria over the Chinese balloon; the increasing evidence that Ukraine is descending to a débacle for the Biden Administration in the Bakhmut area; and the coarse threats of 'consequences' for China were it to support Russia militarily (and at the very moment when Washington was promising more weapons for Taiwan), were too much for Beijing.

Comment: See also: Iran-Saudi détente spells a 'catastrophe for US hegemony' - Analyst

And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Enter The Dragon: China Sides With Russia Against America


Dollar Gold

Making common, golden sense of the next senseless bank crisis

JerPow
© Mary Calvert/Reuters
Fed Chair Jerome Powell
The latest headlines, of course, are all pointing toward the ripple effect of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and they should be.

This banking metaphor for the tech sector in particular and the previously described disaster in California as a whole or the matter of banking risk as a theme, require understanding and attention, provided below.

Once we get past a forensic look at the data and forces which explain SVB's demise, we quickly discover that SVB is itself just a symbol of a much larger financial (and banking) crisis which ties together nearly all of the major macro forces we've been tracking since Powell began his QE to QT quest to be Volcker-reborn.

That is, we confirm that everything comes back to the Fed and bond market in general and the UST market in particular. But as I've argued for years, and will say again now: The bond market is the thing.

By the end of this brief report, we also discover that SVB is just the beginning; contagion inside and outside of the banking sector is about to get worse. Or stated more bluntly: "We aint seen nothing yet."

But first, let's look at the banks in Silicon Valley...

Comment: See also:


Stop

As casualties mount, why there's a growing backlash against the methods used to conscript Ukrainian men for war

graves
© Francisco Seco/AP
Flowers at the graves in Kharkiv, Ukraine
Ukraine's general mobilization process has become shrouded in scandal as the authorities become increasingly desperate in their hunt for new recruits...

Last year, military conscription became an issue in both Russia and Ukraine. However, the extent has been completely different in the two countries. While in Russia the mobilization was partial, lasting barely more than a month and affecting around 300,000 people, according to official figures - a significant part of whom already had military experience - a completely different picture has developed in Ukraine.

Kiev instituted a general conscription drive which has been in force for more than a year. The exact number of those taken to the armed forces during this time is not known for certain and the process has been accompanied by numerous scandals.

Cases where law enforcement officers have applied force when handing out conscription notices and illegally delivered men to enlistment offices have given rise to public discontent. However, the Ukrainian authorities clearly have no intention of pausing enlistment because the situation remains critical at some sections of the front.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are losing their grip on fortified areas around Artyomovsk (Bakhmut), and taking huge numbers of casualties, according to the Guardian and other media outlets. Meanwhile, Kiev continues to issue mobilization summonses and is sending people without proper training.

Stop

China foresees end of Ukraine war this summer: Report

Xi and group
© Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping
A fascinating new report in Nikkei Asia has unearthed and detailed the findings of an elite Chinese state-linked think tank which reports directly to the People's Liberation Army. Nikkei in the context of examining the timing and motives behind China's 12-point peace plan said that Chinese military experts are predicting the Russia-Ukraine war will end this summer.

To review, the 12-point plan urged implementation of a ceasefire and the resumption of negotiations toward a permanent peaceful settlement, and was unveiled on the one-year Feb.24 anniversary of the war. But the Nikkei report asserts there's specific rationale driving Beijing:
The reason for China's sudden change can be traced back to a report issued two months earlier by a top think tank in Beijing. The Academy of Military Sciences [AMS] reports directly to the People's Liberation Army. Although it cannot be found on a map, the institution is located in Beijing's Haidian district, which itself is home to the ruins of Yuanmingyuan, a palace destroyed by Western armies in the 19th century.
The report goes on the detail how central and important the AMS is as a military think tank (a kind of 'Chinese Rand Corporation' in terms of influence), issuing recommendations directly to the Communist Party's Central Military Commission, which is the PLA's top decision-making body.

Comment: China envisions a peace settlement. Washington sees what it wants to see and aims to that end.


Stop

US progressives and MAGA Republicans joined forces to end the illegal occupation of Syria - but came up short

soldier
© Delil Souleiman/AFP
Tal Abyad • Syria
On March 8, Representative Matt Gaetz introduced a resolution that would have forced congressional oversight to be applied to the continuation of America's military occupation of Syria.

In total, 47 Republicans joined with 56 Democrats - primary members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) - in favor of the legislation. It also had support from Robert Ford, who was the Obama administration's ambassador to Syria and formerly a major hawk in favor of ousting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"Syria is my leadoff hitter. We're going to take a trip around the globe. We may go to Yemen. We may have stops in Niger. We may have stops in Sudan. Maybe ultimately, we'll end in Ukraine," Gaetz told The Intercept about the bill, implying it would not be the last of its kind in ending American interventionism around the globe.

Despite this unexpected bipartisan support, it was still shot down by the overwhelming majority of status quo hawks in Congress, representing a major lost opportunity for Washington to fall in line with international law - and its own domestic law. As Ford noted in his letter to Congress:
"There is no definition of what the 'enduring' defeat of ISIS would look like, and Washington owes our soldiers serving there in harm's way a serious debate about whether their mission is, in fact, achievable."

Clipboard

Ex-Russian president suggests new name for Ukraine

Medvedev
© Unknown
Former Russian President, Deputy Security Council Chair Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev says the country should be called "Bandera-Reich"

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has proposed renaming Ukraine after notorious Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera. His suggestion came after Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told his government to consider a proposal to change Russia's name.

On Friday, Zelensky instructed authorities to "thoroughly study" the proposal to officially rename Russia to 'Moscovia.' He was reacting to an online petition, which argued that the name 'Russia' provided grounds for "further encroachment" on the history of Kievan Rus, a medieval state from which both Russia and Ukraine trace their origin. Many Ukrainian nationalists claim that their homeland is the only true heir of Rus.

The name 'Moscovia' dates to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and was historically used by some authors to describe the Russian state.

On Saturday, Medvedev, who served as Russian president between 2008 and 2012, and currently serves as deputy chairman of the Security Council, fired back in a post on his Telegram channel. "Our response?... Only the Schweinisch Bandera-Reich," he wrote. The word "schweinisch" means "piggish" in German.

Cow Skull

Gaffe machine: Joe Biden calls Donald Trump "the former president and maybe the future resident"

Joe Biden

Joe Biden
Botches Marjorie Taylor Greene's name as well

Joe Biden spoke in Philadelphia today regarding his plans to enact his plan to enact a $5.5 trillion tax hike on working families.

His budget would also spend $2.2 trillion over the next decade, pushing America ever closer to full blown socialism.

Biden also told another big lie, claiming Republicans want to defund the police. Democrats of course are the ones who want to do so.

Comment: Grandpa Earpiece needs to be put out to pasture as soon as possible. Preferably in an orange jumpsuit.


Bullseye

'Rigorous' Maidan massacre exposé suppressed by top academic journal

ukraine euromaiden maiden snipers
© Reuters/Maks Levin
An anti-government protester aims a rifle during clashes with riot police in Independence Square in Kiev February 20, 2014.
A peer-reviewed paper initially approved and praised by a prestigious academic journal was suddenly rescinded without explanation. Its author, one of the world's top scholars on Ukraine-related issues, had marshaled overwhelming evidence to conclude Maidan protesters were killed by pro-coup snipers.

The massacre by snipers of anti-government activists and police officers in Kiev's Maidan Square in late February 2014 was a defining moment in the US-orchestrated overthrow of Ukraine's elected government. The death of 70 protesters triggered an avalanche of international outrage that made President Viktor Yanukovych's downfall a fait accompli. Yet today these killings remain unsolved.

Enter Ivan Katchanovski, a Ukrainian-Canadian political scientist at the University of Ottawa. For years, he marshaled overwhelming evidence demonstrating that the snipers were not affiliated with Yanukovych's government, but pro-Maidan operatives firing from protester-occupied buildings.

Comment:


Hardhat

US-Ukraine unity is cracking apart

biden zelensky
POLITICO reports there are growing differences between Washington and Kyiv.

Over one year since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, there are growing differences between Washington and Kyiv on how to move forward in the conflict, POLITICO reported Sunday.

One issue is over Bakhmut, the eastern Ukrainian city where Russian and Ukrainian forces have been locked in battle for over eight months. Biden administration officials think Ukraine has expended too many resources defending Bakhmut and worry it will impact their ability to launch a counteroffensive this spring, but officials in Kyiv have decided to keep fighting for the city.

Comment: See also: