Puppet Masters
The British decision to supply depleted uranium munitions to Kiev is part of a dangerous trend that makes the Ukraine conflict a threat to the whole of Europe, Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has warned.
"The war to the last Ukrainian could become a war to the last European," the politician said in a social media post. Numerous Russian officials have claimed that Kiev's Western backers are prepared to sacrifice every Ukrainian for their geopolitical interests.
Volodin argued that Kiev's acquisition of depleted uranium munitions, which can contaminate the battlefield and cause health risks for generations to come, could become a stepping stone to even more dangerous weapons. "The next step could be the use of a dirty bomb by the Kiev regime or the deployment of a tactical nuclear weapon."
President Vladimir Putin expressed concern about the British decision earlier this week, warning that Russia "will be forced to react accordingly, bearing in mind that the collective West has already started to use weapons with a nuclear component."
Bets of a 50 basis points rate hike at the start of the month following evidence of sticky inflation in a tight labor market and hawkish rhetoric from Fed Chair Jerome Powell have been dramatically altered by the collapse of two mid-sized U.S. banks and troubles at Credit Suisse.
A Swiss-backed takeover of Credit Suisse by peer UBS has helped calm some contagion fears but broader ramifications of the deal are yet to be seen. Across the Atlantic, U.S. regulators and the Fed set up lending programs and brokered deals to support regional banks.
A Swiss-backed takeover of Credit Suisse by peer UBS has helped calm some contagion fears but broader ramifications of the deal are yet to be seen. Across the Atlantic, U.S. regulators and the Fed set up lending programs and brokered deals to support regional banks.
Comment: Takeaway: It's all a guessing game. As the global financial mosaic breaks apart, ramifications are incalculable.
Gates wrote in a New York Times op-ed published Sunday:
"We need a fire department for pandemics. The world hasn't done as much to get ready for the next pandemic as I'd hoped. But it's not too late to stop history from repeating itself."Albeit concerned, Gates says he's optimistic about the World Health Organization's announcement of a Global Health Emergency Corps that could "spring into action at a moment's notice when danger emerges." He sees the success of this team as constantly practicing drills for different potential emerging pathogens, being able to implement widespread global testing, preventative sewage testing, and seamless coordination with governments across the world.
Research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America suggests the chance of a pandemic similar to the impact of COVID-19 is 38% in someone's lifetime. The authors note that that percentage could double in years to come.
Comment: Translation: Gates is guaranteeing another plandemic is in the works - only better this time if we all behave.
The warrant has only sowed further division in the world, potentially jeopardizing diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has been raging for over a year already, the PM believes.
"This ICC warrant to arrest Putin will complicate efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, especially before [Chinese] President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow during which he is expected to mediate for peace.The warrant also poses a threat to international efforts in other spheres, namely tackling "global issues such as climate change and diseases," the Cambodian leader said. Moreover, the ICC move has sharply increased the risk of events spiraling into a nuclear exchange in Europe, the PM warned.
"Will Putin agree to be arrested without confrontation? If the ICC tries to arrest him, would the Russian authorities be willing to allow this to happen easily?"
Comment: Global movers and shaker nations are not members of the ICC and therefore deny jurisdiction.
The US government has voiced major concerns after Israeli lawmakers passed a bill allowing for the construction of new settlements in the occupied West Bank, warning that the measure would facilitate the theft of Palestinian land.
The State Department's principal deputy spokesman, Vedant Patel, said Washington is "extremely troubled" by the law, which rescinds parts of a 2005 bill that ordered Israeli settlers to vacate Gaza and some areas of the West Bank.
"The US strongly urges Israel to refrain from allowing the return of settlers to the area covered by the legislation," he told reporters on Tuesday, noting that "At least one of the [former] outposts in this area... was built on private Palestinian land, which is illegal under Israeli law."
When it comes to all matters military, I have been following a handful of analysts among whom Croatian Admiral Davorin Domazet (retired) emerged as perhaps my favorite. He has deep and detailed command of technical matters (like Andreiy Martyanov he insists that you can't prevail in modern warfare without deep knowledge of of advanced mathematics and probability). More importantly, he has perhaps the clearest understanding of the broad historical context of today's clash between Russia and the western powers.
Unfortunately, Admiral Domazet does not give many interviews and none in English, but I thought that his last one was important enough to share more broadly in this article.
If you happen to speak Croatian/Serbian languages, you can find the interview, published on 17 March 2023 at this link. It runs over 2 hours.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli far-right lawmaker and leader of the Religious Zionist Party
There's no such thing as Palestinian history or culture, and the Palestinians are not a legitimate ethnic group, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has claimed. The hardline politician, who is tasked with the administration of the occupied West Bank, made the inflammatory remarks on Sunday during a visit to France.
Smotrich was speaking at a memorial event commemorating Jacques Kupfer, a prominent Zionist and activist with the right-wing Likud Party, who died back in 2021. The minister delivered his speech while standing at a lectern draped with a flag depicting a variation of the so-called 'Greater Israel' map that appears to include the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza and Jordan, footage of the event, which was widely shared online, shows.
Comment: Pure projection. Less than 100 years ago, there was no such thing as an 'Israeli'.
Israel's "culture" is a mishmash of eastern European traditions, and what has been stolen from the indigenous Palestinians. The average 'Israeli' has more connection to latkes and klezmer music than to hummus and ouds. And zero connection to the 'history' of the small tribal group recounted in the fictional Bible.
Comment: Keeping in mind that the author is a goldbug, and the following is not financial advice, he does raise some excellent points.
Anyone who doesn't see what is happening will soon lose a major part of their assets either through bank failure, currency debasement or the collapse of all bubble assets like stocks, property and bonds by 75-100%. Many bonds will become worthless.
Wealth preservation in physical gold is now absolutely critical. Obviously it must be stored outside a broken financial system. More later in this article.
The solidity of the banking system is based on confidence. With the fractional banking system, highly leveraged banks only have a fraction of the money available if all depositors ask for their money back. So when confidence evaporates, so do the balance sheets of the banks and depositors realise that the whole system is just a black hole.
And this is exactly what is about to happen.
For anyone who believes that this is just a problem with a few smaller US banks and one big one (Credit Suisse), they must think again.
Comment: The UBS did end up purchasing Credit Suisse.
See: Shotgun marriage: Swiss bank UBS 'is prepared to take over troubled rival Credit Suisse but only for knockdown price' UPDATE
And don't miss: Ellen Brown: The Looming Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives Tsunami
Trump released a list of ten items that indicate how he plans to "clean out the deep state," starting with re-instating an executive order that would give the president the authority to fire bureaucrats, according to the video posted on Rumble. The former president's plan would dismantle the "Washington Swamp," target corruption and ensure that federal bureaucrats and politicians are held accountable.
"The departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled so that faceless bureaucrats will never again be able to target and persecute conservatives, Christians, or the left's political enemies, which they're doing now at a level that nobody can believe even possible," Trump said in the video.
Comment: Sounds like a great plan. Any chance it will actually happen?
See also:
- Trump moves to crush 'flawed' Georgia election inquiry
- Trump posts late-night video to supporters
- Trump indictment delayed, "surprise witness" to testify on Monday
- NewsReal: Trump Under Arrest? Putin Wanted by ICC? Globalists Gunning For Nationalist Leaders
- US the greatest threat to Western civilization - Trump
- Arrest would deliver Trump 2024 election in 'landslide' - Musk

This specifically would include declassifying intelligence related to links between the COVID-19 leak and the infamous lab from which it allegedly came in Wuhan, China.
The move requires all U.S. intelligence related to that link and the origins of COVID-19 to be declassified within 90 days of the law's enactment.
'We need to get to the bottom of Covid-19's origins,' Biden wrote in a statement. He noted any released material should also 'include potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.'
Comment: More from Fox News:
The National Intelligence Council and four other agencies assess at "low confidence" that the COVID-19 pandemic originated due to natural transmission from an infected animal, while the CIA and another unnamed agency are undecided.
"It's been three years since COVID-19 upended our lives, and we're still asking basic questions about the origins of this virus. That's unacceptable," Chairman Mike Gallagher of the newly-formed House Select Committee on China, previously told Fox News Digital.
"The question of how this pandemic began is the most important question in the world, and we should not continue to waste precious time waiting for the Chinese Communist Party to suddenly cooperate with U.S. officials and open up access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology," he added. "It's time for Congress to act and force the administration to declassify the relevant intelligence surrounding the pandemic."
In a statement to Fox News digital, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said, "Today President Biden finally signed my bill to declassify what the government knows about Covid origins. Let the people see for themselves!"
Comment: Just like the denials in blowing up the pipeline, the factions of the West will deny supplying Ukraine with nuclear weapons.