Victoria Nuland, US President Joe Biden's envoy for European and Eurasian affairs, is in Moscow as part of an unprecedented, yet highly symbolic, move, with Russia waiving sanctions against her to allow the meeting to go ahead.

Nuland is well-known on this side of the world for her uncompromising criticisms of Russia and her active role in the mid-2010s events that took place in Ukraine. She had been entered onto a blacklist and barred from crossing the border. The sanctions were lifted reciprocally: Russia let Nuland in, and Washington gave the green light for one of Moscow's diplomats stuck in a similar position.

While it's good to see it all work out in the end, it is a fairly baffling case. In the past, diplomats could do their jobs without their respective capitals needing to strike deals and make concessions. Centuries of rules and norms seem to have been ignored.

These are strange times indeed, and I often think that during the Cold War things were somewhat easier. Back then, everyone seemed to have a clearer awareness of responsibility to keep the channels of communication open to make sure you could know what the other country was up to. Today, posturing and rhetoric take precedence.

On Friday, October 8th, HBO's Real Time host, Bill Maher posed the question many are asking themselves, how the Build Back Better bill will help the economy when there is a shortage of workers and building supplies are being held up in supply chain issues.

Maher said:

"It's interesting because I keep reading about the Build Back Better bill. They want — we can't — we don't have enough workers, even if we passed it tomorrow. And because all of these supply chain problems, we don't have building supplies. So, how are we going to build back better if we have no workers and no supplies? It's a good idea, though. It's always a good idea."

We now live in a world, where bizarro headlines such as the ones below, have become a daily if not hourly occurrence:

• *TREASURY TO STUDY IMPACT OF CLIMATE ON HOUSEHOLDS, COMMUNITIES
• *TREASURY LAUNCHES EFFORT ON CLIMATE-RELATED FINANCIAL RISKS
• *BRAINARD: CLIMATE-SCENARIO ANALYSIS WILL HELP IDENTIFY RISKS
• *BRAINARD: CLIMATE CHANGE COULD HAVE PROFOUND ECONOMIC EFFECTS
• *MESTER: FED LOOKS AT CLIMATE CHANGE FROM VIEW OF RISKS TO BANKS
• *FED IS TAKING THE RIGHT COURSE ON MONITORING CLIMATE CHANGE
• *FED SHOULD CONSIDER CLIMATE-CHANGE RISK TO FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Now, in case someone is still confused, none of these institutions, and not a single of the erudite officials running them, give a rat's ass about the climate, about climate change risks, or about the fate of future generations of Americans (and certainly not about the rising water level sweeping away their massive waterfront mansions): if they did, total US debt and underfunded liabilities wouldn't be just shy of $160 trillion.

So what is going on, and why is it that virtually every topic these days has to do with climate change, "net zero", green energy and ESG?

The reason - as one would correctly suspect - is money. Some $150 trillion of it.

We are at war, people — a one-sided war. The freedom-fighters of America have lost their way and cannot discern that enemies are deep within their midst. This is because today's war is psychological. No adversary of freedom has ever before been able to conquer the entire world through military combat — humanity always saw what was coming and fought back. But this time around it is different. Americans and people in other free nations are clueless that they have been under an enemy attack since the inception of Covid-19, and that a diabolical military psyop has been underway.

America's infiltrated government and military are at the forefront of this psychological operation, along with China. Under the guise of the communist Sustainable Development global agenda, which is deeply rooted in world governments, this crusade to globalize and "reset" the world is in direct opposition to the West's values and ideals. If it is allowed to come to power, the colossally and cruelty of this new technocratic system will not compare to any previous tyrannical regimes. We are currently witnessing a tiny inkling of that cruelty through lockdowns, forced mask wearing, and the grievous orders eradicating the rights of the non-vaccinated to work, attend theaters, or visit malls. "Hell on earth" is coming because the enemies of freedom have crafted a well-organized global psyop utilizing a fake virus called Covid-19, and their weapons are mind control and DNA-altering vaccines.

What are psyops? Let's use the US Department of Defense's own definition on the word, since they have been exercising psychological warfare since World War I:

Psyops are the use of propaganda and psychological tactics to influence emotions and behaviors.

Catholic U.S. troops should be allowed to reject the COVID-19 vaccine if taking it "would violate the sanctity" of their conscience, said Archbishop for the Military Services Timothy Broglio in a statement out Tuesday.

Why it matters

Broglio encouraged troops to get the vaccine, but acknowledged that some people have questioned whether the church's position encouraging the shot "precludes an individual from forming a sincerely held religious belief that receiving the vaccine would violate his conscience."

"It does not," wrote the archbishop.

Driving the news: The Pentagon mandated the vaccine for troops back in August, but many service members are still unvaccinated as deadlines approach.

Filipino ninja doctors may soon be sneaking into the homes of Covid-19 vaccine refuseniks to inject them in their sleep. At least that's the idea proposed by the country's trigger-happy president.

The unorthodox approach to boosting vaccination rates was touted by Rodrigo Duterte during his latest 'Talk to the People' address on Monday. "I know many people are still hesitant," the president said, as quoted by local media.

The president added that he was ready to personally lead the nocturnal immunization raids.

In the space of nearly 500 years, Russia and Turkey have fought no fewer than 12 wars against each other. Now, even without the tsars or Ottomans, the two old rivals are standing on competing sides once again - this time in Syria.

However, while backing competing factions in bloody fighting across the Middle Eastern nation, the conflict has paradoxically brought the two powers closer together. So close, it seems, that even NATO is worrying about it.

A major breakthrough in relations between Moscow and Ankara was evident when Turkey purchased Russia's S-400 air defence system in defiance of US threats. The US has subsequently imposed sanctions on Ankara and expelled Turkey from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. A meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his American counterpart, Joe Biden, was not enough to mend relations.

ISIS-K stated it was responsible for a suicide attack last Friday at a Shiite mosque in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz that was allegedly carried out by an ethnic Uyghur. Al Jazeera reported that the group said that "the attack targeted both Shias and the Taliban for their purported willingness to expel Uighurs to meet demands from China." The Russian Foreign Ministry also released a statement condemning the attack for its attempted destabilization of Afghanistan during this new stage in its history.

The terrorist group therefore quite clearly sought to exacerbate Afghanistan's sectarian divisions in order to create a wedge for undermining the Taliban's de facto rule of the country. Considering the faith of those who were targeted, ISIS-K might also have hoped to provoke a reaction from Iran. From their perspective, the ideal one would have been if Tehran expressed concern over the Taliban's ability to protect the Shiite community. That could have worsened mistrust between the two sides and caused wider regional divisions

Europe's energy crisis and Russia's readiness to alleviate vividly demonstrates a fundamental win-win partnership.

Russophobia and geopolitical cynicism know no bounds among certain Western politicians and media commentators. Thankfully, however, such a negative mindset is increasingly exposed for its ridiculous irrationality.

This week as Europe's energy crisis broke new records in terms of soaring consumer prices, Russian President Vladimir Putin stepped in with a promise to increase exports of natural gas. The news had an immediate calming effect on Europe's energy markets which saw prices whipsawing to lower levels.

Rather than simply greeting the development as a positive move, there were predictably sinister comments from some quarters. Russia was accused in Western media of "holding Europe hostage" over the continent's energy crisis and using its vast supply of natural gas as a "geopolitical weapon".

Russia and the US have agreed to continue discussions on the situation in the east of Ukraine, with both parties seeing eye-to-eye on the need for Kiev to implement the controversial Minsk agreements to create peace in the region.

That's according to Dmitry Kozak, the Kremlin's deputy chief of staff, who spoke to the media after a meeting in Moscow with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland. Nuland is in Moscow for a three-day working visit and has already met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. Nuland was previously banned from entering the country as part of counter-sanctions against Washington, but the Kremlin agreed to remove her from the blacklist to enable the short visit.

Kozak told news daily Kommersant:

"A thorough and constructive dialogue took place regarding the settlement of the conflict in south-east Ukraine. It was confirmed that the Minsk agreements remain the only basis for a settlement.

"During the talks, the US confirmed its position ... that significant progress towards the settlement of the conflict is unlikely without any agreement on future parameters of Donbass autonomy. In other words, giving the region a special status within Ukraine."

Nuland herself described the talks at the Kremlin as both "productive" and "useful."