Fauci Goes to Princeton
BY MARK OSHINSKIE | BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE | JUNE 3, 2022
Last month, I went to Princeton to protest the University’s “Class Day” speaker, Tony Fauci. It astounded me that students would invite someone who stole over two years of their college experiences and young lives. By selecting Fauci, Princeton students showed that they’re celebrity worshipers, not critical thinkers.
The students certainly didn’t vet Fauci by reading RFK Jr.’s The Real Anthony Fauci, which reveals how corrupt, hostile and destructive this Napoleonic tyrant is. The Princeton grads I know are all Groupthinkers. Most tend not to speak well in English, much less in a second language. Like Fauci, they’re very overrated.
I was among a dozen protesters who displayed signs as we stood on the Nassau Street sidewalk just outside the campus gates. My sign had two sides, One side said, “Vaxxes Did Not Stop the Spread.” The other side said, “Hopkins Study (February, 2022): Fauci Lied.”
Fauci recently claimed that lockdowns, masks, tests and “vaccines” had saved many lives. The Hopkins study shredded this notion and observed that Faucist “mitigation” strategies have caused tremendous, lasting harm.
Many drivers who passed us honked approvingly. Numerous strangers approached and expressed agreement with us or passed by with thumbs up. Some said they bought the fear for a month until they began to change their minds. I’ve heard that often, and never understood it. The powergrab was obvious from Day 1. Why lock down healthy people for the first time in human history when only a tiny fraction of some very old, very sick people had—at least purportedly—died from this infection?
Lockdowners never presented evidence that would have sustained a reasonable burden of proof. Allowing Coronamania to begin, unchallenged, was a massive error. Once this started, it became entrenched.
While many Americans complain, only a tiny percentage will actively protest. I’ve been to half a dozen Corona rallies over the past two years. Most were lightly attended. It’s pathetic that so many Americans have passively tolerated this nonsense.
I asked those who heard the speech and mocked Fauci when we met by the campus entrance if they had booed him. They said they didn’t. When I asked why, they said they didn’t want to upset other people; as if, after having seen the world opportunistically, permanently damaged by 27 months of Faucism, booing would have been indelicate. People accepted profound mistreatment in order to avoid conflict.
After all this time, some fools still buy Coronamania. Some ceremony-goers walked past, wearing masks. A few cast disapproving glances that they mistakenly thought would bother us protesters. Some passersby also muttered unintelligibly. A fellow protester noted, “They always say shit as they’re walking away.”
We protesters were kept too far from the speech to hear it. So I read the text on-line. First, though others have lambasted Fauci’s AIDs work, Fauci portrayed himself as a heroic public servant during that era. Second, he asserted that systemic racism caused Covid to kill more minorities. Finally, he warned that Covid showed us to avoid purveyors of “misinformation.”
Fauci delivered a self-revealing meta-message to college grads: when your work product sucks, gaslight and resort to name-calling and PC demagoguery. His stated concern about misinformation is painfully ironic, as it comes from someone who has lied his way through the past two years and, according to peers, many years prior.
Playing the race card, Fauci pointed out that minorities unfairly had to work during the pandemic because many were “essential workers.” But didn’t Fauci recommend that essential workers should continue working? Do the stats back his facile claim that too many minorities were essential workers; weren’t there tens of millions of White essential workers? And how many healthy, working-age people—of any race or ethnicity—died of Coronavirus? Facts don’t constrain Fauci. He’s the consummate tropester. And he was playing to a trope-hungry crowd.
Further, while I know the vaxxes are ineffective at best, Fauci still inaccurately maintains that the vaxxes work great. He often lied that those who didn’t vaxx had created “a Pandemic of the Unvaccinated.” Yet, during his speech he declined to mention the lower vaxx rates among minorities, despite that the shots were aggressively promoted, and free. A disproportionate number of minorities, cf., majority populations, defied Fauci’s exhortation and astutely knew not to go along.
The Eighteenth Century British writer, Samuel Johnson, and Bob Dylan both said that “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” The same is true of Fauci’s showy anti-racism. To obscure his venal misconduct and terrible record, Fauci touts himself as a champion of minorities. But how many urban/rural minorities does Fauci know? Do you think his kids went to school with Hispanic or Black kids? Doesn’t he think he’s better, and deserves to be paid far more, than minority essential workers?
Fauci also neglected to mention a May 5, 2022 Harvard study that predictably concluded that the Covid school closures he endorsed had disparately harmed minority students.
Hearing the biggest liar since Pinocchio call others “misinformers” is gruesome. Aside from his demonstrably false statements about the vaxxes’ purported effectiveness and safety, and the lockdown and school closure effects, Fauci also said masks worked, although all serious evidence shows they don’t.
Fauci also stated that he didn’t fund gain-of-function research, though he did. He repeatedly relied on high cycle PCR tests to measure “cases,” when even the test’s inventor, Kary Mullis, and the NY Times said that they shouldn’t be. Additionally, Fauci wrongly predicted that motorcycle rallies and college football games would be super-spreader events. All of these assertions—and many more—were obvious misinformation.
A decent attorney or interviewer would easily expose Fauci’s pervasive dishonesty. But he’s hidden himself from those who know what a fraud he is, and the bought media has never asked him any serious questions. He’s repeatedly lied for 27 months while making a series of absurd recommendations that some people, like Princeton grads, still somehow take seriously. A Class Day website photo shows the fully-jabbed graduating sheep giddily bumping elbows with their diminutive Dear Leader.
A brush with someone famous! I must post this on Instagram! Dopamine rush! I am… somebody!
Twenty-seven months into this, a mandated truth-serum injection might have prompted Fauci to make the following remarks, instead of those he actually made:
Esteemed, albeit naive, Class of 2022, et al.:
I know that your college experience sucked. You sat in front of screens most of the time and you could’ve done that at home. Two years that should have been special are gone forever. But eff you all. Your entire generation is expendable. I wanted to oust Trump. He deserved it because he was too stupid to know I was spouting nonsense and he let me run the show.
Two weeks to flatten the curve; wear double masks; take tests that yield up to 90% false positives; avoid funerals and cancel weddings because you might spread “droplets;” ignore natural immunity and take your mandated jabs, even if they’ve not only failed but are injuring and even killing people; and boost up multiple times—I’ll tell you how many. Becauss (I pronounce that word oddly) I’m the Soy-ence! (That word, too).
You believed all that, and much more, without asking any questions. Because that’s what excellent college students, such as those at Princeton, do. It’s more important to have people like you than it is to seek the truth. How do you express that aphorism in Latin? (This is an allusion to a pretentious/whimsical Princeton tradition).
I’ve loved this two-year power trip. I always wanted to be on TV and I got to do that often with fawning, mindless, bought interviewers. I even got to throw a ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game. I’ll bet you didn’t know I consider myself a good athlete.
I’ve become a multi-millionaire working for the government despite doing an awful job. Although I’m elfin, evil and dishonest, people bow down to me because I dish out the grant money that’s the lifeblood of academic sycophants. Whatever you end up doing, try to make and control a lot of cash, congratulate yourself and speak in PC cliches. If you do, you can con people into calling you “successful” and even an “expert” and a “public servant.” Class of 2022, you’re ideally suited to become tools who just might worsen the deep, vast damage I’ve done. But I doubt you can top me.
So long, suckers. As Otter said at the end of that college movie classic, Animal House, “You effed up. You trusted us.”
Global Aviation Union waves red flag on pilots’ vaccine injuries
By Mike Campbell | The Counter Signal | June 3, 2022
The Global Aviation Advocacy Coalition (GAAC) has called for an end to vaccine mandates for pilots worldwide due to a disturbing number of them having vaccine injuries, of which some resulted in death.
“The undersigned pilot advocacy groups, scientists and doctors are hearing daily from vaccine-injured airline pilots. These harms include cardiovascular issues, blood clots, neurological and auditory issues, to name just a few,” their statement reads.
“While not an exhaustive list, the airlines below have pilots on staff who are vaccine injured and with whom our pilot advocacy groups are in contact:
-
- Jetstar Australia
- Qantas Australia
- Virgin Australia Australia
- Air Canada Canada
- Air Transat Canada
- WestJet Canada
- Air France France
- EasyJet France
- HOP France
- Lufthansa Germany
- TUI Netherlands
- KLM Netherlands
- American USA
- Delta USA
- JetBlue USA
- Southwest USA
- United USA
- Frontier USA
- Alaska USA
- Spirit USA”
If you are wondering about why airlines are facing massive cancellations due to staffing problems this explains it all.
GAAC further calls out federal aviation regulators – such as Transport Canada – for failing to live up to aviation safety standards.
“Many pilots also sought guidance from civil aviation regulators. These regulators are ultimately responsible for the safe and secure transport of citizens, yet most, if not all, actively ignored their own safety recommendations against unproven, unapproved drug use or medical trials for flight crews. Transport Canada, for instance, simply removed this online guidance the week following numerous pointed, written questions on the same.” [Emphasis added]
Additionally, GAAC claims the staffing shortages are directly related to the vaccine mandates. Some pilots viewed the experimental vaccine as too risky, their statement says, so they were forced into unpaid leave as a result. Others, they claim, submitted to the coercive mandates to feed their families, causing mental health problems, as well as injuring and even killing some of them.
“Now, the global aviation industry is heading into a dire staffing shortage.”
GAAC calls for an end to all vaccine mandates for pilots (where they remain); enhanced medical screenings of pilots and cabin crews to account for the increase in injuries; and hiring third-party regulators to analyze data on said injuries and determine if vaccination was the cause.
Despite this call, Canadian Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra recently voted against ending the federal vaccine mandates, just as Canadian airline Westjet’s CEO, Alexis von Hoensbroech, spoke out against the mandates.
Canada remains one of the last countries to keep their federal vaccine mandates in place. And it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon. Indeed, earlier this week, Trudeau said that vaccine mandates must stay to protect against future variants that do not even exist.
‘Putin’s Price Hike’? US National Gas Prices Officially Double Since Biden Took Office
Samizdat | June 4, 2022
Gas prices began to climb soon after the 2020 election, with President Joe Biden blaming Covid, and then Vladimir Putin, and insisting that his administration’s policies had nothing to do with the situation. The Russian president dismissed Biden’s claims, saying Western ruling elites’ greed, “mistakes, myopia and ambitions” were responsible.
The national average price of a gallon of gasoline has officially more than doubled under President Biden, climbing from $2.39 a gallon on 20 January 2021 to $4.81 a gallon as of Saturday, the American Automobile Association (AAA) has reported.
According to the AAA’s national stats, Californians are paying the most, with the state’s retail price averaging $6.29 a gallon. Meanwhile, observers in northern California outside San Francisco spotted prices as high as a whopping $9.60 a gallon for regular on Friday afternoon. Georgia enjoys the lowest average prices in the union, with its residents paying $4.25 per gallon on average.
For perspective, the Ford F-150, America’s best-selling vehicle, has a 23-gallon fuel tank, meaning that someone who owns one in California would have to spend nearly $145 to fill ‘er-up. Georgian F-150 owners, meanwhile, would have to fork out about $97.75.
Gas prices unexpectedly became a top concern for the Biden administration amid the looming November midterms, with the White House tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve this week and expressing support for an OPEC move to boost global output after spending months trying to blame forces outside its ability to control and foreign governments.
Republicans place the blame squarely at the feet of Biden and the Democrats, suggesting that the ruling party’s federal spending programmes and ill-considered push away from hydrocarbons toward renewable energy were responsible.
“Joe Biden’s war on American energy has forced families across the country to empty their wallets to fill their tanks,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, Biden is doubling down on his disastrous agenda because he’s not the one paying the price – the American people are.”
Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre deflected the administration’s responsibility in a briefing on Tuesday, blaming a resurgent pandemic and Putin. “This – when we talk about the gas prices right now, this is indeed Putin’s gas hike. This is what we have seen in the most recent months of what we’ve seen at the gas pump. And so, that is a fact,” she said.
The Russian president addressed attempts by Biden and other Western leaders to blame him and Moscow for the inflation, food and fuel crunch facing the US and its European allies. “The truth is that the current problems that millions of people in the West face are the result of many actions by the ruling elites of their states, their mistakes, myopia and ambitions. These elites are not thinking about how to improve the lives of their citizens. They are obsessed with their own selfish interests and surplus profits,” Putin said in a briefing back in March.
Poland Suddenly Realized That It Can’t Indefinitely Fund Ukraine & Its Refugees
By Andrew Korbyko | One World Press | June 2, 2022
The nostalgic neo-imperial rush of reconstituting the long-lost Commonwealth through Poland’s recent merger with Ukraine into a de facto confederation proved to be short-lived after Warsaw suddenly realized that it can’t indefinitely fund Kiev and its refugees. Everything seemed picture-perfect at first after President Duda and his Ukrainian counterpart Zelensky lavished praise on one another’s countries in late May while speaking before the Rada. They wistfully spoke about returning to the halcyon days when there were no borders between them and pledged to create a customs union to that end, among other comprehensive connectivity initiatives. This de facto confederation sounded good on paper but Poland quickly realized that its budget simply can’t afford this ambitious geopolitical project.
The first signs of trouble came just a few days later after Prime Minister Morawiecki demanded that nearby Norway immediately give all of the extra profit it’s made from energy sales thus far this year to Warsaw and Kiev. Oslo of course refused, which was then followed by Poland complaining that Germany didn’t replace the 200 older tanks that Warsaw gave to Kiev with newer ones like it claimed its neighbor had promised. Berlin denied that any such deal was ever clinched, which ultimately left Poland in the doldrums after it finally dawned on its decision makers that they just got played by Germany into transferring half of their country’s tanks to that former Soviet Republic in exchange for literally nothing at all.
Upon panicking, Poland then demanded that the UN’s headquarters for Ukrainian reconstruction be based in its country instead of the one that the international community will purportedly try to rebuild, most likely through the scheme that Zelensky shared during the World Economic Summit in Davos whereby his partners can literally take control over “a particular region of Ukraine, city, community or industry.” Warsaw obviously wants to get the lion’s share of this or at the very least skim some of the funds off the top for supposedly facilitating this process, which can in turn help it make up for the untold billions of dollars that it’s already spent on Ukraine, ergo why it wants to host that headquarters.
That demand, like practically everything else that Poland has asked for thus far such as Duda’s earlier idea during his last visit to Kiev that the US-led West reinvest Russia’s stolen foreign assets into rebuilding Ukraine (which would serve to subsidize Poland’s de facto confederation with it), wasn’t enthusiastically embraced by its allies like Warsaw expected. It might still come to pass, even if only in part, but Poland now knows that it can’t continue indefinitely funding its geopolitical project with Ukraine to the same extent as it had expected. That’s why it’s suddenly slashing its generous aid to Ukrainian refugees, cutting off free fuel deliveries, and positioning itself as Kiev’s “economic hub”.
The ruling “Law & Justice” (PiS per its Polish abbreviation) party’s Ukrainization of Polish society was intended to weaponize these “new arrivals” as “agents of influence” in the other half of the de facto reconstituted Commonwealth. They expected this to be financed by Brussels via its promised refugee aid tranche of around €150 million, which hadn’t yet been disbursed as of last weekend. In any case, Poland is demanding billions more in aid, after which Politico reported in their latest article about the surging costs of that country’s refugee program that “Brussels also said Poland could tap €1.2 billion in unused funds from REACT EU… to support Ukrainian refugees.”
The EU also approved approximately €35 billion in grants and loans to Poland as part of a COVID recovery program yet is withholding this assistance until it complies with Brussels’ demands to reform its judiciary. In other words, Poland was played by everyone– especially Germany – into taking on the bloc’s leading role in comprehensively supporting Kiev and its millions of refugees, only to be left in the lurch without any substantial assistance until it unilaterally concedes on a significant issue of national interest connected to its strategic autonomy. The irony is that while Poland sought to colonize Ukraine, it was Poland itself that was just further colonized by the EU.
The lesson to be learned is that some countries’ leaderships can be easily manipulated by appealing to their imperial nostalgia just like PiS was by its so-called “allies”. By pushing them to take the lead in “temporarily” shouldering the costs of what’s portrayed as a “multilateral effort”, external forces can get them to go so far that they can’t reverse their policies without incurring some serious cost to themselves, even if only reputational or connected to electoral politics. The manipulated leadership is therefore pressured to stay the course no matter what with the expectation that “just a little bit more” is all that’s needed to finally unlock the promised funds that might never come.
In an ideal world, everything would have gone according to PiS’ plan. The US-led West would have given Warsaw its billions of dollars’ worth of seized Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine in accordance with its desires. Norway would have been guilted to chip in and Germany would have also already replenished the whopping one-half of Poland’s tank arsenal that PiS dispatched to Ukraine, while the UN would have unreservedly established its Ukrainian reconstruction headquarters in Warsaw. Brussels, meanwhile, wouldn’t have attached any political strings to its promised refugee aid to Poland. None of that has yet to happen, though, and instead Poland is now forced to slash funding to Kiev and its refugees.
The Neo-Commonwealth project therefore isn’t off to a good start, having already been hated by genuine Polish conservative-nationalists from the get-go and now even possibly triggering the wrath of those liberal-globalists in society who demand that everyone chip in to continue funding Kiev and its refugees to the same extent as before. Poland simply can’t afford that though which is why it’s had to walk back its initially ambitious plans, though only after having already committed to merging with Ukraine into a de facto confederation, a game-changing development that it’s already too invested in to reverse. All the while, the West is laughing at the “village idiot” that it easily got to do its bidding.
Bilderberg Elites Meet In Washington, D.C
Technocracy News | June 2, 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. 2 JUNE 2022 – The 68th Bilderberg Meeting will take place from 2 – 5 June 2022 in Washington, D.C., USA. About 120 participants from 21 countries have confirmed their attendance. As ever, a diverse group of political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia, labour and the media has been invited. The list of participants is available on bilderbergmeetings.org.
The key topics for discussion this year are:
1. Geopolitical Realignments
2. NATO Challenges
3. China
4. Indo-Pacific Realignment
5. Sino-US Tech Competition
6. Russia
7. Continuity of Government and the Economy
8. Disruption of the Global Financial System
9. Disinformation
10. Energy Security and Sustainability
11. Post Pandemic Health
12. Fragmentation of Democratic Societies
13. Trade and Deglobalisation
14. Ukraine
Founded in 1954, the Bilderberg Meeting is an annual conference designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. Every year, between 120-140 political leaders and experts from industry, finance, labour, academia and the media are invited to take part in the Meeting. About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; approximately a quarter from politics and government and the rest from other fields.
The Bilderberg Meeting is a forum for informal discussions about major issues. The meetings are held under the Chatham House Rule, which states that participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) nor any other participant may be revealed.
Thanks to the private nature of the Meeting, the participants take part as individuals rather than in any official capacity, and hence are not bound by the conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights. There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken and no policy statements are issued.
~~~
Attendees include, amongst many other interesting names,
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Cabinet Office
Tom Tugendhat, MP; Chair Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons
David Lammy, Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, House of Commons
Jeremy Fleming, Director, British Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ
Mark Sedwill, former UK Cabinet Secretary and former National Security Adviser, now chairman,
William J. Burns, (USA), Director, CIA
José Manuel Barroso, former President of the European Commission, now Chairman, Goldman Sachs International LLC
Albert Bourla, (USA), Chairman and CEO, Pfizer Inc.
Emma Walmsley, (GBR), CEO, GlaxoSmithKline plc
Mark Carney, Vice Chair, Brookfield Asset Management, UN Climate Change envoy
Henry A. Kissinger, (USA), Chairman, Kissinger Associates Inc.
Yann LeCun, (USA), Vice-President and Chief AI Scientist, Facebook, Inc.
Eric E Schmidt, (USA), Former CEO and Chairman, Google LLC
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General, NATO
Trump Said We Should “Get Along with Russia”. He’s Right
BY MIKE WHITNEY • UNZ REVIEW • JUNE 4, 2022
Look at this map of Ukraine.
Can you see what’s going on? The Russians are creating a buffer zone along their western perimeter.
Why are they doing that? What benefit do they derive from a buffer zone?
Well, a buffer zone creates a distance between Russia and Ukraine which Putin thinks is necessary since Ukraine is threatening to join NATO. So, he’s creating his own DMZ on his western flank.
But what does that prove?
It proves that we’ve been lied to from the very beginning. Putin was not planning to reconstruct the Soviet Empire like the media told us. He did not want to seize the Capitol, Kiev, and he did not want to conquer the entire Ukrainian landmass. That was all baloney.
What he wanted to do, is what he has done.
Don’t take my word for it, look at the map. You don’t need CNN or Rachel Maddow to tell you what you can see with your own two eyes. This is the reality ‘on the ground’.
This is a buffer zone. It creates a distance between Russia and Ukraine, it protects the ethnic Russians in the Donbass region, and it establishes a landbridge to Crimea where Russia’s vital deep-water port of Sevastopol is located. In other words, it achieves what Putin wanted to achieve from the very beginning, that is, enhanced security along his western border.
What we are seeing is the basic parameters of Russia’s “Special Military Operation”. Yes, many people will prefer to call it a “war”, but the term is not nearly as precise as “Special Military Operation”.
Why?
Because “Special Military Operation” indicates that the main objective is to save the lives of the ethnic Russians who had been under constant bombardment for the last 8 years and, also, to create a security zone that prevents a hostile NATO army and its missile system from being deployed to Russia’s border. These are the goals of the “Special Military Operation”; to “demiliterize” and “denazify” the area under Russia’s control. Get it?
Will the “Special Military Operation” go beyond the Donbass to Kiev and cities in the west?
Probably, not. Going beyond the Donbass would likely involve a complete mobilization of men and resources which has not yet taken place in Russia. By not mobilizing, Putin is signaling to the west that he will limit his operation to the area on the map. (With some slight expansion) Putin is indicating that his main concern is security, and since his concerns were casually brushed aside by Biden and Zelensky, he took matters into his own hands. In other words, he imposed his own settlement.
Okay, but if these are the parameters of the Special Military Operation, then what are the chances of a wider war?
That depends on Biden. If Washington continues on the path of escalation –by sending weapons systems that can strike targets in Russia– then Putin will respond. We should know that by now. Putin is not going to back down no matter what. If Washington wants to up-the-ante, then they should prepare for an equal response. That’s the way it’s going to work. For now, the “Special Military Operation” is just a “Special Military Operation”. But when it becomes a war, then all bets are off. Then we will see a full mobilisation, a complete rupture in US-Russo relations, and a halt to all hydrocarbon flows from east to west.
Do you think Europe and the United States are prepared for that? Do you think the EU can replace the 25% of the oil and 40% of all the natural gas it presently imports from Russia? Do you have a wind-powered car that will get you to work on time or a factory that will run on solar power? Do you have a plan for heating your house with hydrogen or perhaps a battery from an old Prius?
No, you don’t, and neither does Europe. Europe runs on fossil fuels. America runs on fossil fuels And the more fossil fuel that is consumed, the more the economy grows. The less fossil fuel is consumed, the more the economy shrinks. Are you prepared for life in a shrinking economy with high unemployment, skyrocketing inflation, unending recession, and deepening social malaise brought on by your government’s misguided desire to “stick it to Putin”?
That’s a bad choice, isn’t it? Especially when a face-saving deal can be made at anytime. In fact, Biden could stop the fighting tomorrow if he extended the hand of friendship to Putin and declared that, yes, Ukraine will accept neutrality til the end of time and NATO expansion will stop ASAP.
That’s all it would take. Just extend the olive branch and Putin will ‘call off the dogs’. Guaranteed.
That’s what this guy would have done. Remember him? Remember how bad things were when Trump was in office and gas was 2 bucks a gallon, and everyone had a job, and there was no inflation, and violent crime was under control?
Listen to what Trump had to say about Russia:
“Well, I hope we do have good relations with Russia. I say it loud and clear and I’ve been saying it for years. I think it’s a good thing if we have a great relations with Russia. That’s very important. And, I believe, some day that will happen. It’s a big country, it’s a nuclear country, it’s a country we should get along with, and I think we will eventually get along with Russia.”
He’s right, isn’t he? We need to get along with Russia and put an end to the fighting before these morons drag us into World War 3.
Russian Embassy Rejects Criticism Included in US Religious Freedom Report
Samizdat – 04.06.2022
WASHINGTON – The Russian Embassy in the United States has denied the US State Department’s allegations of systematic violations of religious rights in Russia.
“We would like to remind you that Russia was originally formed as a multinational and multi-confessional state. It is in the blood of Russians to build mutually respectful and tolerant relations with representatives of various ethnic groups and religions,” the embassy said in a statement on Telegram.
“Protecting the rights of believers is our absolute priority. We have no religious persecution.”
The embassy said that the usual reproaches included in the State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report released on Thursday reflect Washington’s tendency to “arrogantly label” certain countries in order to have an excuse to interfere in their internal affairs.
The Russian embassy accused the US of provoking sectarian tensions in the countries of the Middle East, North Africa, and the former Yugoslavia for the sake of its geopolitical interests.
“Such actions have always led to conflicts and numerous victims,” the embassy stressed.
Grain prices go down after Putin’s pledge
Samizdat | June 4, 2022
Global grain prices have fallen to April levels following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s promise to ensure the safe export of Ukrainian grain through Black Sea ports controlled by Russia.
Wheat was trading at $10.4 per bushel (27.2kg) on Friday, data from the Chicago Board of Trade shows. That was its lowest price since April 7, when it was quoted at $10.2 per bushel, and a 10% drop from its peak price in mid-May.
Prices of corn for animal fodder were also down this week, falling to $7.27 per bushel.
Grain prices rose last month on fears that Russia’s ongoing military operation would prevent Ukraine’s grain exports from reaching buyers. Western countries accused Russia of preventing exports, but Moscow has repeatedly stated that it is not to blame and that the ships carrying Ukrainian grain are unable to leave ports due to mines placed in the area by Kiev’s forces. Putin on Friday once again said that Russia is in no way responsible for holding up shipments and promised to assist in the ships’ passage.
“As for the export of Ukrainian grain, we do not interfere with this… It was not we who mined the passages to the ports. Ukraine mined them. I have already told all of our colleagues many times: [Ukraine] should clear the mines and allow the ships with grain leave the ports. We guarantee peaceful passage without any problems,” Putin said during an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel. He also noted that there are several other ways to export grain, including via the ports of Berdyansk and Mariupol, which are under Russia’s control, or via the Danube River, through Hungary, Poland or Belarus.
Fears over the fate of Ukrainian grain have led to warnings of food insecurity and hunger in the past weeks, especially in poorer nations. According to Coldiretti, Italy’s association representing agricultural producers, Ukrainian ships must be allowed to move from ports as soon as possible, especially as the country’s warehouses will soon need to accommodate the new harvest.
“The departure of ships from the ports of the Black Sea means the emptying of Ukrainian warehouses where over 20 million tons of grain including wheat, barley and corn destined for exports are stored… The [ship] blockade raises risks of riots and famine,” Coldiretti said in a statement published on its website on Friday.
Ukraine ranks sixth among the world’s wheat exporters. Together, Russia and Ukraine supply nearly 30% of the wheat exported globally. According to Coldiretti, countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Bangladesh and Iran buy more than 60% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine, while Lebanon, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya and Pakistan are also heavily dependent on supplies from the two countries.
Referendum on Joining Russia Not On Current Agenda of Kherson Region – Authorities
Samizdat – 04.06.2022
SIMFEROPOL – A referendum on joining Russia is currently not on the agenda of the Kherson region, which plans to focus on returning to normal life first, Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the regional military-civil administration, told Sputnik.
“Today, the priority for us is the stabilization of life in the Kherson region. Issues of paying pensions, social benefits, and launching the region’s economy are being resolved. The referendum is not on the agenda today,” Stremousov said.
He added that a referendum is possible after the situation in the region fully stabilizes.
On Tuesday, Stremousov told Sputnik that the Kherson region plans to hold a referendum on joining Russia, and it is estimated that at least 60-70 percent of the local population will agree to become a part of Russia.
Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations.
Moscow has said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarize and “denazify” Ukraine. In response to Russia’s operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.
The Russian military has already taken control of the Kherson Region in the south of the country and part of the Zaporizhzhia Region. Military-civilian administrations have been formed in the regions, broadcasting of Russian TV channels and radio stations was launched, and trade ties with Crimea are being restored.