Puppet MastersS


Light Sabers

Zelensky a 'clown' for badmouthing the Pope - Maduro

maduro
© Carlos Becerra / Getty Images
Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky looks like a clown, a brute, and a loser when he attacks Pope Francis for urging a negotiated peace with Russia, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said during a television program on Monday.

The Latin American leader was rebuking his Ukrainian counterpart's rejection of the Pope's call last week for Kiev to consider making concessions for the sake of peace negotiations.

Pope Francis is a great man who has high moral authority and Zelensky is in no position to speak poorly about him, Maduro said. The Ukrainian leader's attitude makes him similar to Juan Guaido, he added, referring to the former Venezuelan MP who attempted to usurp power in the country with US backing several years ago.

"Zelensky looks more and more like Guaido, the clown, the brute, the loser Guaido, and is as harmful for the people as Guaido was," he said. Venezuela - and Maduro as a man of faith - supports Pope Francis' message of peace for Ukraine, he stressed.

Attention

Confident dragon lays out modernization roadmap

China Rising
© Public Domain
This is the Year of the Wooden Dragon, according to China's classic wuxing ("five elements") culture. The dragon, one of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac, is a symbol of power, nobility and intelligence. Wood adds growth, development and prosperity.

Call it a summary of where China is heading in 2024.

The second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was finalized on Sunday in Beijing.

The wider world should know that within the framework of grassroots democracy with Chinese characteristics, an extremely complex - and fascinating - phenomenon, the importance of the CPPCC is paramount.

The CPPCC channels wide-ranging expectations of the average Chinese to the decision level, and actually advises the central government on a vast range of issues - from everyday living to high-quality development strategies.

This year, most of the discussion focused on how to drive

China's modernization even faster. This being China, concepts - like flowers - were blooming all around the spectrum, such as "new quality productive forces, "deepening reform," "high-standard opening-up," and a fabulous new one, "major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics."

As the Global Times emphasized, "2024 is not only a critical year for achieving the goals of the '14th Five-Year Plan' but also a key year for achieving the transition to high-quality development of the economy."

Mr. Potato

Never surrender? NATO head rejects Pope's 'white flag' appeal to Ukraine

NATO vs Pope
The pontiff suggested that Kiev should "find the courage" to end the conflict with Moscow through talks.

Ukraine needs more military aid before it can start negotiating a peace deal with Russia, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said. His comments came after Pope Francis told Swiss broadcaster RSI that Kiev should have "the courage of the white flag" and begin talks with Moscow.

Speaking with Reuters on Monday, Stoltenberg rejected the idea, saying more military support for Ukraine is the way to achieve a negotiated peaceful solution.

The secretary-general added that "what happens around a negotiating table is inextricably linked to the strength on the battlefield."

"It's not the time to talk about surrender by the Ukrainians. That will be a tragedy for the Ukrainians. It will also be dangerous for all of us," he claimed.


Comment: NATO apparently thinks that the situation on the battlefield against all odds will improve. When that doesn't happen, then the negotiations will be left to accepting all the demands which Russia will put on the table.


Comment: It is a sign of the times, when a major religious leader is being chastised for calling for peace negotiations.

The conflict will not end as long as the West continues to push for a fight to the last Ukrainian. The concessions the West will make at the end will be enormous and likely ensure a diminished role in world affairs for Europe for the rest of the century.


Vader

Theft! EU to start sending Russian money to Ukraine this summer

Freezing assets
The European Commission is pressing ahead with its plan to give Kiev up to €3 billion ($3.2 billion) from profits generated by frozen Russian assets amid waning financial support from the US, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Brussels is fast-tracking the decision to seize the interest earned from the assets held at clearinghouse Euroclear, starting from February onwards, the article stated.

A first tranche of money could be sent to Kiev as early as July if Brussels can secure the approval of all bloc members, the outlet said, citing EU officials. The proposal is reportedly expected before a summit of EU leaders next week.

The West has frozen roughly $300 billion in holdings belonging to the Russian central bank since the start of the Ukraine conflict two years ago. Brussels-based clearing house Euroclear holds around €191 billion ($205 billion) of them and has accrued nearly €4.4 billion in interest over the past year.

Comment: It not only could erode trust in the euro's status, it will erode trust in the euro. Countries around the world will take notice and park their money elsewhere. It is clear that those in the EU elite who make these decisions have no concern for the consequences and know that they themselves will not suffer from them.


Eiffel Tower

Macron delays Kyiv visit amid tensions over Ukraine comments

Emanuel Macron
© Pool photo by Gonzalo Fuentes via AFP/Getty ImagesMacron has upped anti-Russia rhetoric in recent weeks, ruffling feathers among allies, particularly in Germany.
The Elysée Palace denied security concerns over the visit after a Russian missile landed near the Greek prime minister's motorcade in Ukraine last week.

French President Emmanuel Macron has pushed back a long-planned visit to Ukraine amid tensions with allies over his increasingly hawkish comments on Russia.

The visit has been delayed several times and was initially planned for February, before being pushed back to mid-March. On Sunday, a statement from the French Presidential Palace said the visit would take place "in the next few weeks."

Comment: See also:


Post-It Note

Adam Schiff says Intel Community should 'dumb down' briefings for Trump if he's GOP nominee

schiff meet press
© Screenshot/NBC News/"Meet the Press"
Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff stated Sunday on NBC that if former President Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, the intelligence community should "dumb down" his briefings.

Schiff appeared on "Meet the Press" to discuss his recent win in advancing to the general election for potentially filling late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat and his future campaign plans. NBC host Kristen Welker questioned Schiff on Trump's potential intelligence briefing by U.S. officials as the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee before being replaced by former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

"Congressman, let me ask you about this development this weekend. U.S. intelligence officials are planning to provide briefings for Donald Trump if he officially secures the nomination, despite the fact that he's facing 40 felony charges for his handling of classified documents. As the former chair of the house intelligence committee do you think it's appropriate for him to receive intelligence briefings?" Welker questioned.

Comment: See also:


Russian Flag

Scott Ritter: We are witnessing the bittersweet birth of a new Russia

RItterSaldo
© Scott RitterScott Ritter with Kherson region governor Vladimir Saldo
Tucker Carlson's confused exasperation over Russian President Vladmir Putin's extemporaneous history lesson at the start of their landmark February interview (which has been watched more than a billion times), underscored one realty. For a Western audience, the question of the historical bona fides of Russia's claim of sovereign interest in territories located on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnieper River, currently claimed by Ukraine, is confusing to the point of incomprehension.

Vladimir Putin, however, did not manufacture his history lesson from thin air. Anyone who has followed the speeches and writings of the Russian president over the years would have found his comments to Carlson quite familiar, echoing both in tone and content previous statements made concerning both the viability of the Ukrainian state from an historic perspective, and the historical ties between what Putin has called Novorossiya (New Russia) and the Russian nation.

No Entry

Biden warns Netanyahu that Rafah invasion is 'red line'

Biden
© Peter Zay/Anadolu/Getty ImagesUS President Joe Biden speaks at campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia, expressing willingness to return to Israel
President Joe Biden has said he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "hurting Israel more than helping Israel" in how he is approaching its war against Hamas in Gaza.

The US leader expressed support for Israel's right to pursue Hamas after the October 7 attack, but said of Mr Netanyahu that "he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken".

Mr Biden has for months warned that Israel risks losing international support over mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, and the latest remarks in an interview with MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart on Saturday pointed to the increasingly strained relationship between the two leaders.

Mr Biden said of the death toll in Gaza, "It's contrary to what Israel stands for. And I think it's a big mistake."


Comment: Perception management. Israel has no qualms eliminating Palestinians.


Mr Biden said a potential Israeli invasion of the Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1.3 million Palestinians are sheltering, is "a red line" for him, but said he would not cut off weapons like the Iron Dome missile interceptors which protect the Israeli civilian populace from rocket attacks in the region.

Comment: So how's that going for Biden?
Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Biden had miscalculated with his early unstinting support for Israel.

Biden underestimated how Israel would "frame the conflict in terms of an existential struggle, which means he has actually limited influence over them."

Cook said that while Biden has come under fire from the left, he is beginning to face criticism from Israel supporters who believe he is tilting too far to the Palestinians.

"It's really a lose-lose situation for the president. It'll have to be entirely up to him and his political people to decide which constituency he wants to upset more."



Star of David

Netanyahu hits back at Biden's criticism: Policies are supported by 'overwhelming majority' of Israelis

Neti
© UnknownIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Sunday interview fired back at President Biden's suggestion that his policies were only hurting Israel.

Netanyahu said in an interview with Politico:
"I don't know exactly what the president meant, but if he meant by that that I'm pursuing private policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he's wrong on both counts."
Netanyahu said he thinks the majority of Israelis supports the operation in Gaza to destroy what's remaining of Hamas — the U.S.-designated terrorist organization that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in the Oct. 7 massacre and took about 250 hostages.

Netanyahu has since led an operation in Gaza to root out Hamas and to rescue the hostages, killing more than 30,000 estimated Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

Netanyahu said:
"These are not my private policies only. They're policies supported by the overwhelming majority of the Israelis. They support the action that we're taking to destroy the remaining terrorist battalions of Hamas.

"The majority of Israelis understand that if we don't do this, what we'll have is a repetition of the October 7th massacre, which is bad for Israel, bad for the Palestinians, bad for the future of peace in the Middle East."

Big Bomb

The 'ammo-gap': Russia producing three times more shells than NATO

putin russian weapons factory
© Sputnik / Russian Presidential Press OfficeRussian President Vladimir Putin visits the Shcheglovsky Val machine building plant, a subsidiary of KBP Instrument Design Bureau, in Tula, Russia.
Vladimir Putin has transformed the economy faster than the US and its allies could, the news network was told

Russia is producing three times more artillery shells than Kiev's military sponsors, CNN reported on Monday, citing Western intelligence estimates.

At the current rate, defense plants in Russia can churn out roughly three million munitions per year, compared to the 1.2 million that the US and its allies in the EU can make and provide to Kiev over the same period, the news network was told.

With artillery proving crucial for the large-scale positional warfare of the Ukraine conflict, Moscow is "mounting a significant advantage on the battlefield," one NATO source said. Russia has "put everything they have in the game," the senior European intelligence official told CNN. "Their war machine works in full gear."

Comment: Brian Berletic of New Atlas is a numbers wonk, and has been reporting about this almost since the SMO started.

Russia's 'command and control', 'excess capacity' industrial complex has been mocked by the free-market West since forever. BUT when she is in need, that complex, paired with the country's immense natural resources and friendly trade partners, can turn on a dime to produce whatever Mother Russia requires, while the West's private MIC enterprises waste time squabbling about 'return on investment'.