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Escaping the globalist system

James Corbett
Corbett Report
Sun, 02 Jun 2019 17:35 UTC
Escaping the Globalist System
© Corbett Report
The US-China trade war continues to simmer, with Uncle Sam once again talking tough and China, for its part, producing propaganda video after propaganda video promising that hellfire will descend on Washington unless America backs off. Oh, and there's Beijing's whole "we'll deny you rare earth metals" thing, which may be more of a realistic threat.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields have dropped to 19-month lows and even the phony baloney stock market is slumping globally. Oil prices are down, too.

China's economy is notoriously difficult to measure, but it's getting harder and harder for the ChiComs to hide the fact that their industrial output is flagging. And, since we live in a globally-connected economy, that means that global trade has fallen to lows not seen since the depths of the Lehman crisis.

So, are you feeling the squeeze? After all, we are now stuck in this globalist system where the pronouncements of (mis)leaders in far away capitals can have immediate-and, all too often, negative-effects on our lives.

So how do we get out of this mess?

Well, let's looks at some of the solutions on offer and see if they really work.
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Eiffel Tower

City of Paris extends smoking ban to 52 parks and gardens


France24
Sun, 02 Jun 2019 07:07 UTC
Paris extends smoking ban
© AFP (File photo)
The city of Paris will extend a ban on smoking to 52 parks and gardens in the French capital from June 8, the mayor's office announced Friday, marking World No Tobacco Day.

Smokers in the French capital face further restrictions on their liberté to light up with a new measure to ban smoking in 52 parks and gardens across Paris.

The announcement -- made on May 31, World No Tobacco Day - adds 46 additional parks and gardens to a list of six parks, which were designated no-smoking zones in July 2018.

The measure is aimed at "reducing the number of smokers in these parks and cigarette butts thrown on the ground", explained the directive issued by city authorities.

The French have long cherished their smokes, from Gauloises to Gitanes, and France ranks among the EU's heaviest smoking nations. The new move to increase public health standards will be phased in, with the first few weeks of "sensitisation" set to last until early July.
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Megaphone

Malaysian Prime Minister: "No Evidence" Russia Shot Down MH17

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Sat, 01 Jun 2019 00:00 UTC
Mahathir Mohamad - Shinzo Abe
© AFP
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (left) shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Friday.
In unexpected statements Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has questioned the methodology behind Dutch investigators who produced what the West considers the authoritative report on the tragic shoot down of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 while flying over war-torn eastern Ukraine. He criticized that the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) seems "to be concentrated on trying to pin it on the Russians".

The Malaysian leader told reporters at the Japanese Foreign Correspondents Club (FCCJ) in Tokyo on Thursday "They are accusing Russia but where is the evidence?" Mahathir said his country accepted that a "Russian-made missile" shot down its civilian airliner, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board, but that "You need strong evidence to show it was fired by the Russians."

He ultimately questioned the objectivity of the investigators in what major regional media described as a "jaw dropping speech".

Comment: See also:

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Dollars

Iran and Turkey working on pact to ditch greenback in bilateral trade


Sputnik
Sun, 02 Jun 2019 16:28 UTC
Dollar bill
© CCO
Earlier, Washington ripped up waivers enabling major importers of Iranian crude oil, including Turkey, to continue their imports as part of its strategy of "maximum pressure" aimed at crippling the Iranian economy.

Iran and Turkey are working on a new gas trade mechanism to enable the two countries to resist US sanctions pressure, Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Mohammad Farazmand said, the Islamic Republic News Agency has reported, citing an interview by the ambassador with Turkish television.

"Iran exports a large volume of gas to Turkey and we need a new mechanism to be created to ease financial transactions via our national currencies," Farazmand said. "We are [in] the process of establishing a joint bank as well," he added.
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X

Nasrallah warns US, Israeli, Saudi Arabian forces will be "exterminated" if they attack Iran


RT
Sun, 02 Jun 2019 16:30 UTC
Lebanese Hezbollah supporters
© Reuters / Aziz Taher
Lebanese Hezbollah supporters
The leader of Hezbollah has warned the US and its Middle Eastern allies against seeking war with Iran, saying it would set the entire region on fire and result in the extermination of American, Israeli, and Saudi forces.

"Any war on Iran would mean the whole region will be set ablaze," Hassan Nasrallah warned Friday. "All US forces and interests in the region will be exterminated and those who conspired [with US] will pay the price; first Israel, then Al Saud."

The leader of Lebanese Hezbollah, and a close ally of Tehran, made the comments on the day King Salman of Saudi Arabia gathered the kingdom's Arab allies in Mecca to reach a common position against Iran. Addressing delegates of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) emergency summit, the monarch accused Iran of sabotaging commercial ships in the Gulf, and claimed that Tehran may once again try to "target the safety of navigation and world oil supplies."

While the Saudis try to form a united front against its arch-rival, the US military has already mustered a massive force in the region, including an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers, right on Iran's doorsteps under the pretext of countering"clear indications" of threats to American interests from the Islamic Republic.

Comment: See also:

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USA

US Border Patrol and DHS agents to deploy 'side-by-side' with Guatemalan authorities to curb illegal migration flow

Geneva Sands
CNN
Fri, 31 May 2019 16:23 UTC
ice guatemala

ICE agents with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, and Guatemalan police stand at the scene of an early morning raid where a suspected human trafficker was taken into custody on May 29, 2019, in Guatemala City.
US Border Patrol agents and other Department of Homeland Security law enforcement officers will be sent to Guatemala to assist in training missions with local authorities as part of a two-year plan aimed at decreasing migration flows to the United States.

Agents will be "side-by-side" with local Guatemalan authorities, deployed to locations where US law enforcement has not traditionally operated, according to a senior DHS official.

This is a unique surge of DHS personnel to Guatemala, with a "significant increase" in US law enforcement presence in the country, said acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan.

The deployment of DHS officers follows an agreement signed earlier this week between the US and Guatemalan governments. It comes as the administration is trying to find a way to stem the influx of migrant families, mostly from Central America, through Mexico to the US.

The number of migrants illegally crossing the the southern US border has been on a steady upswing, resulting in dangerous overcrowding in US holding facilities at the border. The month of May is on pace to have the highest number of border crossings in over 12 years, according to McAleenan.
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Dollar

Report claims Khodorkovksy bribed managers to get Yukos, then fleeced shareholders for billions


RT
Fri, 31 May 2019 16:14 UTC
Khodorkovsky
© AFP 2018 / JIM WATSON
A TV report, citing an ongoing probe, claims Russian oligarch-turned-opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky took control over the oil giant Yukos by bribing its managers and then siphoned off billions of dollars from shareholders.

Having spent a decade in prison in Russia after being found guilty of tax evasion and embezzlement, Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, may now face more charges. A new probe into his activities, launched by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, has revealed that the businessman laid his hands on the now-defunct oil giant as a result of a shady deal, the report by the Russia's NTV Channel says.

It reveals that, in the mid-1990s, Khodorkovsky managed to win the right for his companies to buy almost 80 percent of Yukos's shares by bribing the company's management. The businessman allegedly promised the then-Yukos director Sergey Muravlenko and three more top managers to pay them an equivalent of 15 percent of the oil giant's shares - or some $2 billion - Salavat Karimov, an adviser to Russia's Prosecutor General, told NTV.

"He indeed transferred hundreds of millions [of dollars] to the offshore accounts opened in the names of these four Yukos top managers," Karimov said.

Comment: See also:

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Question

Guaido's envoy 'uninvited' by Brazil as reports of possible talks with Maduro circulate


Sputnik
Sat, 01 Jun 2019 15:57 UTC
guaido
© Reuters/Ivan Alvarado
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is pretending to be its president, speaks during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela May 9, 2019
The snub came as local Brazilian media reported that a number of former military advisers want to pursue a dialogue with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela's de jure ambassador continues to fulfil his functions in the Brazilian capital Brasilia.

Brazil has revoked an invitation to the envoy for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to present her diplomatic credentials, the envoy commented on Friday, with Brasilia expected to rule on whether to accept them or not.

Guaido's ambassador, Maria Teresa Belandria, dismissed the belief that the invitation withdrawal could indicate there was some change in the Brazilian government's stance. However, she confirmed to journalists that she was "uninvited".

Comment: Guaido and his US backers are rapidly losing steam as the Norway "talks" drag on. Brazil and other countries in the region are waking up to this reality.

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Pistol

Tehran warns the 'first bullet' fired in the Gulf will make oil prices jump above $100


RT
Sun, 02 Jun 2019 15:49 UTC
Iran oil field
© Essam Al-Sudani / Reuters
A full-fledged war with Tehran will tank the US economy because the fighting will immediately make the price of oil skyrocket, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader warned.

US leaders will not go to war against Tehran if they care for the economic wellbeing of their country, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, aide and advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, told Fars News Agency.

"The first bullet fired in the Persian Gulf will push the oil prices well above $100. It will be unbearable for the US and Europe, as well as American allies like Japan and South Korea."

Comment: An in depth analysis of the Iran situation: The Geography of War: No Iraq...? No Iran!

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No Entry

Twitter blocks Dutch politician Geert Wilders: Latest victim of social media bias


RT
Sun, 02 Jun 2019 15:42 UTC
geert wilders
© Facebook / Geert Wilders
Dutch MP Geert Wilders
Right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders has slammed Twitter for its alleged anti-conservative bias after his page got briefly blocked. The ban comes as the social media giants face accusations of silencing voices on the right.

Twitter's decision to temporarily suspend Wilders' account has drawn the ire of the Dutch politician, who accused the platform of displaying a clear bias against him while tolerating almost anything his opponents do on the social media.
"Twitter often tolerates death threats against me, but not a factual tweet by me about a colleague. Madness!"
Wilders, who is known for his staunch anti-Islamist stance and relentless criticism of religion in general, has a sizeable audience on Twitter with the number of his followers amounting to some 811,000, making him one of the most popular Dutch politicians on social media, second only to Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Comment: The ban policy of the various social media companies is visibly skewed in the direction of conservatives.

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