Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 494

No Chance of Amnesty for Enforcers of False Covid Narrative

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=nqxGLxepUbM&feature=emb_logoDr Joseph MercolaStory at-a-glanceAs the COVID lies are now being exposed at exponential speed, some of those proven wrong are getting nervous — so nervous, in fact, they’re now pleading for amnesty and to just let bygones be bygonesWhile some now argue ignorance as their defense, there was no lack of data proving their positions were wrong, dangerous, destructive and deadly, right from the startHealth and government officials weren’t just wrong once and then changed course. No, they’ve doubled, tripled and quadrupled down on errors, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that they’re wrong. Granting amnesty to individuals who have been wrong from Day 1, without a single apology, is an untenable proposition. The price society has paid for their errors is far too great for thatThey were wrong about masks working and natural immunity not working, they were wrong about asymptomatic spread, lockdowns, and the safety and effectiveness of the COVID shots. They were also wrong about SARS-CoV-2 jumping naturally from bats to humans by way of a wet market in Wuhan, China, and they were wrong when they insisted that mandating an experimental gene therapy was within legal bounds. Demanding that officials be held accountable for these errors is not gloating. It’s reestablishing a baseline of conduct and accountability to the publicThere can be no amnesty for COVID narrative pushers as people proven right are still being persecuted as “misinformation spreaders,” and illegal government censorship continues without abatement. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security now views censorship and controlling the information space as one of its core duties

As the COVID lies are now being exposed at exponential speed, some of those proven wrong are getting nervous — so nervous, in fact, they’re now pleading to just let bygones be bygones.

The Atlantic1 has come under fire for suggesting that all the terrible pandemic-era decisions over lockdowns, school closures, masking and punishing an entire class of people who questioned the efficacy and wisdom of taking a rushed, experimental vaccine — for a virus with a 99% survival rate in most — should all be water under the bridge.

Brown University economist Emily Oster writes in The Atlantic,2 “We need to forgive one another for what we did and said when we were in the dark about COVID.”

[…]

Oster’s plea for the decency that she and the mainstream media and public health officials failed to offer Americans during the throes of the pandemic comes at a point when the COVID narrative has been all but lost by the current administration and the mainstream media.

Their Lies Have Been Exposed

For nearly the last three years, I have been exposing and documenting all of the lies that the global cabal has been promoting in their mainstream media propaganda.

[…]

COVID jabs were never tested for, or proven to stop transmissionThe jabs were not 95% effective but actually increased the risk of getting COVIDThe fatality rate of COVID was around 0.005%Lockdowns did more damage than goodThis bioweapon came out of a lab“Safe and effective” turned into “sudden and unexpected death”Their Crimes Must Be Reconciled

[…]

These murderous hypocrites killed thousands of seniors by knowingly putting infected patients into old age homes. They killed thousands more by putting treatable patients on ventilators and Fauci’s remdesivir, and additional thousands were killed by not allowing safe and effective treatments like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to be prescribed by doctors.

They have killed and injured hundreds of thousands through coercion, threats, mandates and a never-ending stream of lies that forced people into taking a dangerous and untested, toxic concoction — a Big Pharma bioweapon.

These “experts” seeking forgiveness, ostensibly because they were just caught up in the “hysteria” of the moment, weren’t wrong. They were lying from the outset and need to pay dearly for their crimes against humanity.

We were scorned, ridiculed, ostracized, censored, fired, deplatformed and wished dead by the authoritarian-minded sheep who demanded compliance, and treated like outcasts by family members who believed the narrative hook, line and sinker.

[…]

Why We Must Reject Amnesty Plea

The reasons we must reject Oster’s amnesty plea are manifold. First and foremost, while some now want to argue ignorance as their defense, there was no lack of facts and data, right from the start, proving their positions were wrong, dangerous, destructive and deadly.

[…]

No luck was needed to know that masks were useless. The published science told us as much. Ditto for the conclusion that natural immunity is superior to vaccine-induced immunity. No luck was needed to know there was no such thing as asymptomatic spreaders, because again, science. Not only can you not have a “hot” infection without symptoms, but research looking at millions of individuals confirmed what we already knew from basic virology.

No luck was needed to correctly predict that lockdowns would have a dramatically negative effect on health, education and the economy. That was just plain rational, but early cost-benefit analyses also confirmed it.

No luck was needed to know that the COVID jab was useless because data from around the world rapidly grew to show that case rates rose in tandem with the shots. Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden and CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky have also demonstrated this.

All were jabbed more than once, and all got COVID — more than once! Seventy percent of jabbed CDC employees also got COVID, and on several occasions, ships where 100% of crew and passengers were jabbed reported outbreaks. None of this would occur if the shots actually prevented infection and spread, and you need no special skills other than clear-headed reason to come to that conclusion.

You also don’t need special skills to see that the COVID shots are killing healthy people. Just look at all the sudden deaths of professional athletes and children. It’s so common they’ve even given it a new name: Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. Look at the excess mortality statistics and the skyrocketing life insurance claims.

Oster’s proposition that luck was behind correct analyses is a cop-out and a sign that she’s not ready to accept that she was gullible and irrational — and possibly cruel toward others. Recall, threatening the lives of the unvaccinated and mocking their deaths was basically part of the public policy.4

[…]

Government Officials Must Be Held Accountable

[…]

Their reckless behavior has caused people to lose their businesses, their livelihoods; they’ve lost family members to reckless medicine; they’ve lost out on weddings and funerals; drug use and suicides have skyrocketed; children have fallen years behind on their schooling and the economy has been destroyed. The list goes on. Being wrong has a price, and society will be paying it for quite some time.

[…]

Those Proven Right Are Still Persecuted

Setting the record straight starts with ending the persecution of those proven to be right. It also requires putting an end to censorship and the promulgation of propaganda.

[…]

The latest victim of this government orchestrated persecution is Dr. Peter McCullough, one of the most well-credentialed and respected cardiologists in the world. He’s now being stripped of his medical credentials for the crime of speaking truth to the public (and thereby contradicting the legalized propaganda).6

[…]

Via https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/11/08/covid-tyranny-amnesty/

Mainstream Media Warns of ‘Tripledemic’ This Winter — What’s Really Behind the Hype?

By  Dr. Joseph Mercola

While influenza, RSV and COVID-19 can be problematic and dangerous for certain high-risk individuals, the overall risks associated with them are negligible for most — but “fear sells” and for Big Pharma, it sells more vaccines.

 Story at a glance:According to mainstream media, hospitalizations for respiratory infections are on the rise and “experts” warn of a potential “tripledemic” this winter, as COVID-19, seasonal influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are all in circulation.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports a 1% increase in new admissions of patients with confirmed COVID-19. Maine — which has one of the nation’s highest COVID-19 jab rates — has the most COVID-19 hospitalizations. RSV cases are also unseasonably high.“Health experts” are now calling for voluntary indoor masking again, even though all the evidence garnered over the past three years confirms that face masks cannot prevent viral infection and spread.The first-ever RSV vaccines are now in the pipeline, directed at pregnant women, newborns and seniors. Some of them are based on mRNA technology.No vaccine for RSV has ever been successfully developed before, because the vaccines had a persistent tendency to cause worse disease, a phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE).

According to mainstream media, hospitalizations for respiratory infections are on the rise and “experts” warn of a potential “tripledemic” this winter, as people contract COVID-19, seasonal influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

“The CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] reports a 1% increase in new admissions of patients with confirmed COVID-19 in the U.S.,” Yahoo! News reported at the end of October.

Far from being a pandemic of the unvaccinated, however, most COVID-19 patients are now, in fact, fully jabbed. As noted by Yahoo! News (before urging everyone to stay up to date on their boosters):

“The state with the most COVID hospitalizations is Maine even though it has one of the country’s highest full vaccination rates, which means a person has received their primary series of vaccinations (whether that’s one or two doses) and two weeks have passed since their last dose.”

RSV cases are also unseasonably high. According to Dr. Margaret R. Moon, co-director of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, the hospital “is experiencing a surge of patients due to an increase in cases of RSV, as well as other reasons, and many surrounding hospitals are facing the same.”

Scare tactics to sell you on RSV vaccine

Fear sells, they say, and that’s certainly the adage used by Big Pharma when it comes to vaccines. A perfect example of this was recently published by Vox. “New RSV Vaccines Are Coming. This Is Very, Very Good News,” the headline states.

Why good news? Because RSV is a “baddie responsible for much of the mayhem” now seen in hospitals. Vox publishes classic fear porn:

“RSV generally causes cold symptoms but can also lead to severe lung inflammation or infection in very young and very old people. And it’s started off cold season with a bang:

“As of October 22, babies under a year old were being hospitalized at rates six times higher than they were at the same point in 2019, and the overall hospitalization rate was seven times higher for people of all ages.

“Every year, hundreds of children die of RSV, and tens of thousands more are hospitalized … RSV disease is one of the first pediatric illnesses that young pediatricians learn to fear, said [Amy] Edwards [a pediatric infectious disease specialist in Cleveland].

“Babies with the infection have terrible coughs and make wheezing noises as they struggle to move air through their swollen airways. ‘Once you’ve seen it, it’s like you never forget it,’ she said …

“In the US, the infection leads to about 58,000 hospitalizations and 100 to 300 deaths among young children each year, making it the country’s top cause of hospitalization in infants.

“Although it’s a particularly risky infection for babies born prematurely and for those with lung problems or heart abnormalities, about 40% of American infants who died of RSV over the past few decades were otherwise healthy.

“However bad RSV is in the United States, it’s worse globally. Every year, it causes an estimated 120,000 infant deaths worldwide … There is currently no approved antiviral treatment for RSV in either adults or children, and the one preventive option that currently exists is far from perfect …

“Babies need something better — something affordable that can protect all infants, not just the highest-risk ones, from this seasonal scourge. Adults, too, need something to protect them from a virus that reliably causes an immense amount of disease — ideally, something that’s as good as a flu shot, or better.”

“Something as good as a flu shot.” Really?

The 2017/2018 seasonal influenza vaccine’s adjusted overall effectiveness for the U.S. was just 36% against influenza A and influenza B virus infection, and between 2005 and 2015, the flu vaccine’s adjusted overall effectiveness was less than 50% more than half the time — with a low of only 10% in the 2004-05 season.

Other than the COVID-19 jab, it’s difficult to find another example of where a commercial product can fail to work more than half the time and still be recommended and even mandated.

Not to worry, though, because according to Vox, “RSV vaccines are super effective.”

Where have we heard that before?

Expect insane COVID measures to resume

As predicted, “health experts” are starting to call for voluntary indoor masking again, even though all the evidence garnered over the past three years confirms what we already knew in 2020, which is that face masks do nothing to stop viral infections.

And, as before, in the absence of actual scientific evidence, the narrative focuses instead on virtue.

Masking up is said to be a way to protect everyone, so just “do your part” and wear it, even though, in reality, it protects no one.

The same goes for vaccination. Both the flu vaccine and the COVID-19 shots are proven ineffective, yet the recommendation to get them continues.

And this season, you’re expected to get both!

First-ever RSV vaccines expected in 2023

The fact that RSV is now being highlighted as a severe risk is understandable in light of the fact that the first-ever RSV vaccines are now in the pipeline. According to CNN, four different RSV shots are “nearing review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)” and more than a dozen others are in trials.testing “protein subunit” RSV vaccines for pregnant women and seniors.

According to Forbes, Pfizer announced Nov. 1, that it is ready to seek FDA authorization for its RSV vaccine.

In clinical trials this shot was given to pregnant mothers and the efficacy was measured not by whether it prevented RSV, but by severity of the infection in hospitalized babies during their first months of life.

Why no RSV vaccine ever made it to market

No vaccine for RSV has ever been successfully developed before. Why?

Because the vaccines had a persistent tendency to cause worse disease, a phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE).

[…]

Via https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/tripledemic-rsv-covid-influenza-mainstream-media-cola/

Algeria applies for BRICS membership

MSN News

The Algerian authorities have submitted a formal application on Monday to join the BRICS, an economic-trade organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

This was confirmed to the media by the Algerian Foreign Ministry representative in charge of international partnerships, Leila Zarrougi, according to the Al Shorouk news portal.

Algeria, which participated as a guest country in the last BRICS summit in China, argued its request in view of the need to open up commercially to other states.

Algiers has remarked that its request for membership has been well received by Moscow and Beijing, two of the most prominent governments of the bloc, although joining the group has yet to be studied by the rest of the members.

Already in August, Algerian President Abdelmayid Tebune stated that the country “largely” fulfilled the conditions for joining the organization and acknowledged Algeria’s interest in the group’s economic and political influence.

Even then, Tebune acknowledged that BRICS membership was “possible,” and predicted “good news” in the future. “Joining this group would put Algeria, a pioneer country of non-alignment, safe from the friction between the two poles,” he remarked.

[…]

Via https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/algeria-applies-for-brics-membership/ar-AA13PCT7

Holland becomes first European country to withdraw sanctions against Russia, without permission from EU

Blogging Hounds

Wow! Holland has said enough is enough!

They become the first European country to withdraw sanctions against Russia, without permission from EU.

This is the first example we see of a European country acting in the best interest of their own country.

Now who is next?

The Dutch government has issued 91 waivers from sanctions against Russia since the country invaded Ukraine late in February, RTL Nieuws reports after talking to the Ministries. The ministries shielded the names of the companies involved, the value of transactions which were exempted, and the business sectors concerned.

The information was “company-sensitive,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Economic Affairs, Finance, Infrastructure, and Education are allowed to grant exemptions to sanctions to “allow a degree of flexibility in specific cases,” the spokesperson affirmed.

In April, the European Union banned ships sailing under the Russian flag from European ports. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management issued waivers so 34 ships could access Dutch ports, for example, because they carried important cargo like aluminum and food.

“Diplomatic relations” was stated as the reason why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs granted one exemption, the broadcaster reported. In the isolated case, transactions which involved Russian banks majority held by the State were permitted to occur.

The Ministry of Finance granted 13 additional waivers related to frozen assets or goods that fall under the sanctions regime.

The Ministry for Climate and Energy, which falls under Economic Affairs, issued 25 waivers for Dutch organizations to still get energy from former Gazprom companies. The waivers help 150 companies and organizations, including municipalities, schools, and water boards, the Ministry said to the broadcaster.

The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, which falls under Foreign Affairs, issued 18 waivers to 13 organizations on “humanitarian grounds” for cooperation between the EU and Russia on “purely civilian matters.” Foreign Affairs issued one waiver so a company could receive another payment from Russia.

[…]

Via https://theblogginghounds.com/2022/11/07/wow-holland-says-enough-is-enough-and-becomes-first-european-country-to-withdraw-sanctions-against-russia-without-permission-from-eu/

The Industrial Revolution of the Song Dynasty

Episode 33: The Industrial Revolution of the Song

Foundations of Eastern Civilization

Dr Craig Benjamin (2013)

Film Review

In 960 AD the Song Dynasty came to power by way of a palace coup. This followed fifty three years (907 – 960 AD) of great instability known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

By 978 AD the Song had claimed control rule over most of China. The Northern Song Dynasty (960 – 1126 AD) ended when China was invaded and occupied by Jurchen nomads from the steppes. After the Jurchens declared themselves the Jin Dynasty, the Song declared the Southern Song Dynasty in Southern China and paid tribute to the Jurchens.

In 1279 AD, Mongol invasion of China ended both dynasties.

Significantly expanding trade across the Indian Ocean, as well as the Silk Road, the Southern Song Dynasty was extremely prosperous. Benjamin attributes its phenomenal economic development to new strains of fast growing rice that enabled Song farmers to increase from one to three harvests a year.*

The growing food surplus enabled farmers to grow more fruits and vegetables, as well as luxury items such as lychee nuts and sugar came. It also enabled some to abandon agriculture altogether for the porcelain industry (now exporting to remote cities in Southeast Asia, Africa and Persia) and the burgeoning iron and steel industry, as well as stimulating the appearance of taverns and specialty shops in city centers.

Under the Song, steel production experienced a technological innovation that wouldn’t appear in England for another 500 years. By using coke instead of coal,** The Song substantially improved both the quantity and quality of steel they produced. It would be used in weapons, agricultural implements, pagodas and the first iron bridges in the world.

During this period, the Chinese also invented gunpowder, which they used in bamboo fire lances; reusable moveable type printing (which led to an explosion in printed books and literacy); the magnetic compass; the first true market economy; the first modern banking system (creating the first letters of credit, promissory notes, checks and paper money; and iron nails.

*In 600 AD, the total population of China was 15 million; by 1200 AD it had increased to 150 million (when London had a population of 80,000 and Paris 250,000). The Song capitol Hangzhou had 2 million people, several cities had 1 million and scores of cities had 100,000. According to Benjamin, the 18th century British industrial revolution also followed a revolution in agricultural production and a steep population increase.

**Coke is made by heating carbon in the absence of air to remove impurities.

Film can be viewed free on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/5808608/5808675

Marjorie Taylor Greene Says Ukraine Aid Will Drop to Zero If GOP Takes Congress

By Ilya Tsukanov – Samizdat – 04.11.2022

Via Aletho News

Last month, the White House expressed concerns that Trump Republicans could jeopardize future military and economic assistance to Ukraine after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy promised to stop writing “blank checks” to Kiev if the GOP wins back control of the House in the midterms.

Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has vowed that US aid to Ukraine will drop to nothing if her party takes Congress on Tuesday.

“Democrats have ripped our border wide open. But the only border they care about is Ukraine, not America’s southern border. Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine. Our country comes first,” Greene said at a “Save America” Trump rally in Sioux City, Iowa on Friday.

The congresswoman accused President Joe Biden and the Democrats of ignoring domestic problems, including the economy, inflation, crime, and the fentanyl crisis, of “putting America last,” and “destroying every single thread of democracy in the process.”

Greene promised that the GOP would open corruption investigations, impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and President Joe Biden, and “defund all the horrific policies the Democrats have passed over the past two years,” including plans to increase the size of the IRS, vaccine mandates, and political actors inside the Department of Justice and the FBI.

“In order to truly make a commitment to America, Republicans are going to have to be the new Republican Party. We can no longer be the party of Mitch McConnell, John McCain, Dick Cheney, George Bush and Mitt Romney, or any other sellout, weak Republican brand that just holds hands with Democrats and serves the globalist agenda that is the enemy of us all,” Greene said.

Greene, 48, has been an outspoken critic inside the Republican Party of Washington’s economic and military aid to Kiev. Earlier this year, she attacked the $40 billion Ukraine Spending Bill, citing the nation’s shortage of baby formula. “40 billion dollars, but there’s no baby formula for American mothers and babies,” the lawmaker said on the House floor in May.

Greene condemned the bill’s approval of “an unknown amount of money to the CIA” and other boondoggle assistance. “If this is claiming that it’s about saving lives, let’s be real. Then we would care about war-torn countries like Ethiopia. So that’s a bunch of hypocrisy,” she said.

57 mostly pro-Trump House Republicans and 11 GOP senators voted against Ukraine assistance earlier this year, citing fears of escalating tensions with Russia and a range of domestic issues. According to an NPR primary election tracker estimate, over nine in ten of the 200+ Trump-endorsed candidates running for the House, Senate, and top state offices won their GOP primaries earlier this year, oftentimes knocking out Republicans with a traditional, neoconservative stance on foreign policy, and those rejecting the former president’s claim that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him.

On Friday, Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee released a 1,050-page report citing whistleblower testimony outlining alleged politicization of the FBI and the DoJ, with the document expected to serve as a “road map” for congressional probes against Biden and the Democrats, should the GOP take Congress on Tuesday.

[…]

Via https://alethonews.com/2022/11/05/marjorie-taylor-greene-says-ukraine-aid-will-drop-to-zero-if-gop-takes-congress/

NYC Apartment Fire Caused by Electric Bike Battery Injures Nearly 40 People

Aletho News

The fire was caused by a lithium-ion battery which power micro mobility devices like electric scooters, bikes, and hoverboards. The New York Fire Department (FDNY) reported that they found five electric bikes in the fire.

At least 38 people were injured in a fire on the 20th floor of a New York City apartment building on Saturday. City officials said that a majority of the victims suffered from smoke inhalation, while two victims were left in critical condition.

The fire erupted on Saturday on the 20th floor of a high-rise apartment complex at 429 East 52nd Street in Manhattan at about 10 AM. Firefighters found five electric bikes as the source of the fire, and wrote on social media to remind the public of the dangers of lithium-ion batteries.

“The cause of this fire is a lithium ion battery which is meant to power a micro mobility device. This is our 200th fire this year caused by lithium ion batteries from micro mobility devices. The fire was right behind the front door, we recovered at least five bikes from the apartment. We want to stress our lithium ion safety tips,” said Daniel Flynn who is the Chief Fire Marshal of the FDNY, who adds that at least six people have died due to lithium ion battery fires this year.

[…]

Via https://alethonews.com/2022/11/05/nyc-apartment-fire-caused-by-electric-bike-battery-injures-nearly-40-people/

52 Countries Vote Against UN Resolution Combating Glorification of Nazism

Internationalist 360º

A UN resolution opposing the celebration of Nazism and related ideologies has met with significant resistance from the US and other western democracies, with 52 countries voting against it on Friday.

The draft resolution “Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,” introduced by Russia’s representative to the UN, was adopted with 105 votes in support. In addition to the 52 votes against it, 15 countries abstained from choosing sides.

The 3rd Committee of the UN General Assembly adopted the Russian draft resolution “Combating glorification of Nazism"

105 nations voted FOR combating glorification of Nazism and racism, 52 cast vote AGAINST dealing with the glorification of Nazism and racism. 15 abstained pic.twitter.com/qIeTeZXsVp

— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) November 5, 2022

The resolution expresses profound concern about glorifying Nazism, neo-Nazism and former Waffen SS members, condemning the construction of monuments and the holding of public ceremonies honoring the Third Reich. Introducing the resolution, the Russian delegate referenced an increase in xenophobia, anti-migrant sentiment, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, among other forms of discrimination, as necessitating it.

#Opinion by Maria #Zakharova

Here’s a typical case of “democracy at work.”

A member of the US delegation checks and marks the presence of their “charges” from among the allies before the 3rd Committee meeting on the resolution on combatting the glorification of Nazism. pic.twitter.com/o7Trdvw3r8

— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) November 5, 2022

The US and several of its allies attempted to explain their vote against the measure by claiming Russia was exploiting Nazi atrocities to justify its military operation in Ukraine, insisting that to join them in condemning the lionization of Nazis would be letting them get away with weaponizing the Holocaust to serve their nefarious ends.

The UK accused Moscow of “furthering lies and distorting history,” even while acknowledging it was using “legitimate human rights concerns raised by neo-Nazism mobilization” to justify its activities in Ukraine. The US went further, arguing that Russia’s “pretextual use of fighting neo-Nazism undermines genuine attempts to combat neo-Nazism.” And Ukraine claimed Moscow’s anti-Nazism message had “nothing in common with the genuine fight against Nazism and neo-Nazism,” which Kiev stressed it condemned in all forms.

Australia, Japan, Liberia and North Macedonia proposed an amendment to clarify that while they were very much anti-Nazi, they were also profoundly anti-Russian. Their addition “notes with alarm that the Russian Federation has sought to justify its territorial aggression against Ukraine on the purported basis of eliminating neo-Nazism,” reminding everyone that the “pretextual use of neo-Nazism to justify territorial aggression seriously undermines genuine attempts to combat neo-Nazism.”

[…]

Russia opposed the amendment, accusing the writers of “trying to drive a wedge between states” by dropping it on the committee at the last minute. It was adopted with 63 votes approving, 23 against, and 65 abstaining.

Moscow introduced a similar resolution last year, before the military operation in Ukraine had begun but after the US-backed coup had installed a government that allowed neo-Nazi groups like the Azov Battalion and lionized Stepan Bandera, the Ukrainian Nazi collaborator whose Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists was responsible for the massacre of tens of thousands of Poles and Jews during World War II. The 2021 resolution was opposed by just two states: the US and Ukraine.

[…]

Via https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/11/05/52-countries-vote-against-un-resolution-combating-the-glorification-of-nazism/

 

How Europe’s Energy Crisis Is Becoming An Economic Crisis

(Photo: Andy Sacks, The Image Bank/Getty Images)

Rachael Wilfong

PA Pundits – International

Europe’s energy crisis is becoming an economic crisis. Skyrocketing energy prices are causing companies of all types across the region to cut thousands of jobs, dramatically roll back production, and in some instances, halt business altogether.

In Western Europe, French glass company Arc International has made significant cutbacks due to rising energy prices. The company is a major employer in Northern France but was forced to lay off over 4,000 employees to stay afloat. Of Europe’s current energy crisis, Arc CEO Nicholas Holder notes, “It’s the most dramatic situation we have ever encountered … For energy-intensive businesses like ours, it’s crippling.”

Arc International is not the only one. The crisis has crippled industries across almost every sector of the economy.

Just earlier this month, four German companies, all over a century old, filed for insolvency or bankruptcy within the same 24-hour period. The companies, ranging from a large vehicle textile manufacturer to a small candy company, each declared the high cost of energy as a reason for their financial woes.

German multinational chemical producer BASF is also altering its business plans to shield itself from future shocks.

Because of the inflated price of energy, the world’s largest chemical company spent an additional $2 billion on European natural gas in the first nine months of 2022. As a result, the company just announced plans to downsize its European operations permanently. To achieve this objective, the company intends to reduce business operations by 10% annually, or about $500 million, through 2024. This includes job cuts in its “non-production” sectors (i.e., IT, communications, and research and development).

With businesses and industries all over the continent reeling, and with high energy prices contributing to a potential recession, it begs the question: How did Europe get in this situation in the first place?

While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine undoubtedly contributed to Europe’s current energy nightmare, the reality is that the European Union has been instituting policies for quite some time that have left the region energy vulnerable.

For years, European policymakers have mandated a rapid transition to unreliable renewable energy as a means for electricity generation. In 2021, renewable energy (i.e., wind, solar, biofuels, and hydropower) only accounted for 14% of the EU’s electricity mix, nuclear accounted for 10%, and conventional fuels (i.e., natural gas, oil, and coal) accounted for 76%.

During the past decade alone, Europe has cut its domestic natural gas production in half, relying on imports, chiefly from Russia, to fulfill 80% of its total gas needs. At the same time, countries across the EU have committed to phasing out coal and nuclear energy.

The result of these centrally managed policy decisions has been a weakened energy infrastructure, unfit to adequately or efficiently respond to shocks like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent gas supply restriction.

As a major Heritage Foundation report notes, “The result of such a politically designed and centrally regulated energy sector [like Europe’s] is a more fragile system where points of failure, instead of being an inconvenience, are catastrophic.”

For Europe, the current energy crisis is teetering on that ledge. The result of the EU’s centrally-managed approach has been a series of layoffs and cutbacks, and high prices have led European families to switch off appliances and stockpile firewood to cut down on energy costs.

Countries are scrambling for short-term relief. But while reopening shuttered coal plants and filling gas storage facilities to capacity may offer some momentary reprieve, it does not shield the continent in the long term.

[…]

Via https://papundits.wordpress.com/2022/11/04/how-europes-energy-crisis-is-becoming-an-economic-crisis/

 

Assassination Attack Against Imran Khan Exposes the Establishment’s Dirty Game

By Andrew Korybko

Global Research, November 04, 2022

State-Sponsored Threats

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was ousted through a US-orchestrated post-modern coup in early spring as punishment for his independent foreign policy, narrowly survived an assassination attempt on Thursday. He was leading his promised Long March from Lahore to Islamabad along with thousands of his supporters to demand free and fair elections as early as possible. Prior to the former premier setting off, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah threatened to “hang him upside down.”

Defaming The Former Premier

It’s little wonder then that the most popular political figure in Pakistan, whose party continues to sweep every by-election that they’ve participated in since April, blamed Sanaullah, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Chief of ISI’s Counter-Intelligence Major General Faisal Naseer for trying to kill him. The first already telegraphed his intentions in the prior example and others, the second has an obvious stake in stopping his opponent, and the third was evidently ordered to carry out this dirty deed.

Outside observers might wonder why the head of the country’s counter-intelligence would be tasked with this but it actually makes sense from the perspective through which The Establishment – which is Pakistani parlance for this state’s powerful military-intelligence services – regards the former premier. The weaponized information warfare narrative that its elite echelons have encouraged their media and political proxies to gaslight the public into believing over the past half-year is that he’s a “terrorist”.

After all, Imran Khan was ridiculously charged under the country’s “Anti-Terrorism Act” after announcing his intent to file court cases against those officials who he alleged had abused one of his top aides in custody. The Establishment’s elite echelons have attempted to frame the former premier as a so-called “anti-state extremist” who’s allegedly conspiring to “incite mutiny” and is “defaming” state institutions. These lies were invented simply because he’s actively seeks to reverse this spring’s regime change.

From Fake News To A Failed Assassination

To be absolutely clear, Imran Khan envisages doing this through purely peaceful and political means connected to his country’s constitutional processes, not through violence, terrorism, or disinformation. All that he and his tens of millions of patriotic supporters demand is free and fair elections as early as possible so that the Pakistani people themselves can directly decide who they want to lead them. This noble goal perfectly aligns with the purest democratic principles, yet that’s precisely why he’s a “threat”.

Those domestic collaborators who colluded with the US to overthrow the former premier know fully well how unpopular their post-modern coup is, which is why they’ve had to resort to increasingly despotic, dictatorial, and ultimately dystopian means to cling to power. Free and fair elections as early as possible would reverse the regime change against Imran Khan, after which the conspirators would likely be out of a job at best or prosecuted at worst if they don’t flee abroad first.

After having lost complete control of the country’s socio-political (soft security) dynamics as a result of the post-modern coup that they helped carry out and everything that unfolded afterwards, The Establishment’s elite echelons panicked and thus decided to eliminate Imran Khan. They could have presumably sought to cut some sort of deal with him for ensuring their early retirement with amnesty in exchange for holding free and fair elections as early as possible but probably feared the US’ reaction.

Martial Law Motives

It shouldn’t be forgotten that those who were responsible for this regime change, which includes The Establishment’s elite echelons who infamously remained “neutral” and thus “passively facilitated” it, are politically (and possibly economically) indebted to the US. Complying with the former premier’s demand without first receiving the US’ approval – which could in theory have been granted if it decided to cut its losses with early elections instead of risk Pakistan’s destabilization – might be very dangerous.

That’s not to excuse their attempt to assassinate him but simply to explain their likely thought process. In any case, the decision was made to eliminate Imran Khan once he commenced his promised Long March since The Establishment’s elite echelons expected that the only other way to stop it would be to order the use of lethal force against those thousands of peaceful protesters once they entered the capital. The resultant bloodshed would have prompted martial law and led to international isolation.

Of course, the obvious recourse would simply have been to have their political proxies organize free and fair elections as early as possible as the most responsible pressure valve, but this wasn’t ever seriously considered for the earlier mentioned reasons. Moving along, The Establishment’s elite echelons expected that the former premier would be successfully assassinated, after which his supporters would predictably riot and thus create the pretext for imposing martial law without international isolation.

In other words, the decision was already made to formally reimpose military rule over Pakistan in order to prevent free and fair elections from being held as early as possible, though The Establishment’s elite echelons needed to craft a so-called “publicly plausible” pretext first. Absent that, and especially in the event that the Long March reached the capital and thus resulted in them ordering the use of lethal force against peaceful protesters, there’d be international isolation and possibly even sanctions.

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Via https://counterinformation.wordpress.com/2022/11/04/the-assassination-attempt-against-imran-khan-exposes-the-establishments-dirty-game/