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A ‘Vaccine-Palooza’ Is Underway, Thanks to COVID — But Will Public Accept Endless Jabs?

The Defender | July 12, 2022

Two-and-a-half years ago, the Grand Poobahs of global vaccinology admitted — in behind-closed-door confessions caught on camera at the World Health Organization (WHO) — that public and professional confidence in vaccines was “wobbly,” and deservedly so.

As the gathered experts conceded, the glaring inadequacies of vaccine safety science and the dysfunctional safety monitoring systems that permit routine “obfuscation” of serious adverse events were understandable reasons for public distrust.

At the time, it seemed as though such momentous disclosures would presage a death knell for vaccine “business as usual” — but then along came COVID-19, and with it, the instant memory-holing of the WHO’s stunning admissions.

Rather than finally address the self-confessed vaccine disaster, public health officials and global leaders — ranging from presidents to private-sector employers to top military brass to central bankers — used COVID-19 as an opportunity to double down in the opposite direction, forcibly stuffing the “vaccine hesitancy” genie back in the bottle with ethically untenable vaccine mandates.

After 18 months of force-feeding the COVID-19 jabs, however, manufacturers are now discarding tens of millions of doses “amid sagging demand.”

In some respects, this could be construed as evidence of policy failure, but the fact is that the COVID-19 shots accomplished a significant goal for the parties that pushed them, launching a renewed vaccine gold rush that — with growing emphasis on voguish, biotech-reliant biopharmaceuticals — seems likely to extend well beyond the COVID-19 era.

As the head of Bayer’s pharmaceuticals division observed in late 2021, mRNA vaccine technology and other forms of cell and gene therapy — for all of their by now well-documented and even species-threatening dangers — have crossed over both the regulatory and public palatability threshold.

Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Eli Lilly — some of major players in the biopharma space — are actively prioritizing “strategic alliances” and “collaborations to expand their [biopharmaceutical] product portfolios.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are poised to roll out, at breakneck speed, approvals and recommendations for whatever new childhood and adult vaccines are sent their way.

In short, using technologies both “conventional” and new, a multipronged effort is afoot to jump-start and ensure a frenzied vaccine-palooza.

The mRNA pipeline

Having succeeded in foisting COVID-19 mRNA injections on an initially unsuspecting public, manufacturers and government agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are now salivating at the prospect of an endless series of mRNA vaccines.

It is no coincidence that the mRNA jabs in the works target some of the very conditions being reported as COVID-19 vaccine adverse events, a neat “create-a-problem, develop-a-drug-to-manage-the problem” trick that accounts for many other drugs already on the market.

In the pipeline are mRNA vaccines for the following:

  • Cancer: Researchers are conducting dozens of clinical trials to test “mRNA treatment vaccines in people with various types of cancers.” Dr. Ryan Cole, a pathologist, described the dramatic surge in endometrial and other cancers following the rollout of COVID-19 shots.
  • Shingles: Cole and others also noted the uptick of shingles in COVID-19 vaccine recipients. Moderna in March announced its development of an mRNA shingles vaccine, as well as mRNA vaccines for herpes and cancer.
  • Other forms of immune suppression: With numerous indications that COVID-19 shots are reprogramming the immune response, officials and manufacturers are dusting off HIV as the supposed bogeyman. Moderna and NIH are partnering in mRNA vaccine clinical trials for HIV. This would represent a particular coup for Dr. Anthony Fauci, who over four decades has found development of an HIV vaccine to be “a daunting scientific challenge.”
  • Heart attacks: Cardiac problems are among the few COVID-19-vaccine-related adverse events grudgingly acknowledged by manufacturers and the FDA. In the U.K., researchers are investigating the use of “exactly the same technology as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to inject micro RNAs to the heart,” claiming they can get whatever heart cells survive after a heart attack to proliferate.
  • COVID and influenza: Manufacturers also are gearing up for a new generation of mRNA-based flu shots and mRNA combination vaccines which, they promise, will “protect against several different infections at the same time, such as influenza, COVID-19 and other respiratory infections.”In the meantime, CDC just recommended that seniors (aged 65 years or older) receive “enhanced” flu shots — either high-dose, adjuvanted or recombinant — in lieu of “standard-dose unadjuvanted, inactivated vaccines.” Adjuvanted influenza vaccines feature a new generation of “smart” vaccine adjuvants designed to ensure even the most mediocre vaccine sends recipients’ immune systems into overdrive.

For babies — something old, something new

In June, the FDA reaffirmed its long-standing allegiance to an agenda of guaranteed harm when it authorized emergency use COVID-19 shots for infants as young as 6 months old.

After the conflict-of-interest-riddled FDA advisors’ 21-0 vote, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) commented, “[I]n balancing the risk to rewards here, all the risks are to the innocent children and all of the billion-dollar rewards go to the government-protected pharmaceuticals.”

Seizures and psychosis are already being reported as adverse events in the under-5 age group.

In decrying FDA’s decision to give COVID-19 shots to tots, some dissenters waxed nostalgic about the perceived “rigor” of the pre-COVID-19 vaccine approval process, seemingly amnesiac about the FDA’s lengthy history of regulatory capture and business-friendly shortcuts.

As a reminder, at least two-thirds of the vaccines approved by the FDA from 2006 through late 2020 benefited from “flexibility in the evidence required for approval,” resulting in accelerated approvals.

This “turn-a-blind-eye” pattern also held sway in the FDA’s and CDC’s recent decisions to pile on two more options to the childhood schedule, options that will do nothing to improve the safety of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) that have been injuring children for decades.

First, on June 3, the FDA approved GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK’s) Priorix, an MMR vaccine initially launched in Europe in the late 1990s.

GSK developed Priorix using the MRC-5 cell line (derived from the lung tissue of a male fetus aborted at 14 weeks).

A 2020 analysis by the Italian association CORVELVA of a version of Priorix that also contains a varicella component found that the amount of DNA in the vaccine was “well above the allowed threshold,” and that continuous use of the cell line over time resulted in “vaccines containing progressively more and more modified human genetic material, that is dangerous for the health of the vaccinees themselves.”

The FDA’s go-ahead for Priorix shatters Merck’s position as the sole U.S. purveyor of MMR vaccines. Previously, FDA showed no sign of being troubled by Merck’s monopoly, despite the pharmaceutical behemoth being dogged by “a slew of controversies” that included whistleblower allegations of MMR-related fraud and undeniable evidence of a link with autism.

Moreover, as Children’s Health Defense Chairman Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. pointed out in late 2019, when the FDA belatedly began to “tee up” Priorix as a replacement for Merck’s scandal-ridden MMR-II, rather than use an inert placebo to test Priorix, the FDA allowed GSK to use MMR-II as the comparator!

Even these sham clinical trials, Kennedy noted, had “horrifying” results. Within 42 days, nearly 50% of recipients of both manufacturers’ formulations experienced adverse events, with over 10% ending up in the emergency room. By six months, almost 4% of recipients had been diagnosed with a “new onset chronic disease.”

To date, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has received more than 37,000 adverse event reports for Priorix and another 11,000-plus for the varicella-containing version — with 58% and 79% of adverse events, respectively, occurring in the under-two age group that will now receive the jabs in the U.S.

Following the nominal slap on the wrist for Merck’s MMR-II, the FDA and CDC also offered Merck some good news, approving on June 17 and then recommending — for routine use in infants and children 6 weeks to 2 years of age — the company’s 15-valent PCV15 (brand name “Vaxneuvance”) as an interchangeable alternative to Pfizer’s Prevnar 13 (PCV13).

The CDC stopped short of issuing a “preferential recommendation” for PCV15, however. Admitting to “certain uncertainties, including concerns related to potentially higher reactogenicity” —  with “reactogenicity” defined as the “state of being able to produce adverse reactions” — the CDC leaves it up to the hapless infants who receive Vaxneuvance to discover the shots’ “higher reactogenicity” for themselves.

Even without the addition of Vaxneuvance to the schedule, pneumococcal conjugate vaccines — with ingredients like aluminum and polysorbate 80 — have shown themselves plenty capable of wreaking havoc on the health of the infants expected to get four doses by the time they are 12 to 15 months old.

Eager to add even more injections to the childhood vaccine schedule, the industry is also eyeing as a potential cash cow a pediatric (and adult) mRNA vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

In 2019, 30 candidate RSV vaccines were in the pipeline, and in 2021, the FDA fast-tracked an mRNA-based RSV vaccine developed by Moderna.

HPV downsizing — getting HPV shots into young people by any means necessary

The competition between Merck and GSK is also fierce where human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are concerned.

In the U.S., Merck’s Gardasil (and later, Gardasil 9) handily beat out GSK’s Cervarix, which is no longer available to American youth — but with 100 or more countries having added HPV jabs to their national vaccination schedules, much more than the U.S. market is in play.

Data suggest HPV vaccine coverage in the U.S. starts out relatively high, with an estimated 66% of 13- to 17-year-olds getting a first dose, but the percentage completing the series (an additional one to two doses) drops off to 49%.

Worldwide, acceptance of HPV vaccines is even lower — for girls, global coverage is estimated at about 15% of those in the target age range.

Undoubtedly, one of the reasons for the global public’s lukewarm stance on HPV vaccination is the occurrence of serious adverse autoimmune reactions that have left many recipients, both female and male, disabled for life.

Merck is mired in lawsuits (with attorneys, including Kennedy) alleging it knowingly concealed Gardasil-associated adverse events.

Rather than re-evaluate — as some researchers have strongly urged — the adverse event profile that, until COVID-19 shots, made HPV vaccines some of the most dangerous on the market, agencies like the National Cancer Institute (NCI) are instead beginning to argue in favor of single-dose HPV vaccination (either Cervarix or Gardasil 9).

Punting to a one-dose regimen would, NCI officials disingenuously say, “simplify the logistics of vaccination, which could allow more girls [and boys] worldwide to be vaccinated.”

Monkeypox profiteering

As Rob Verkerk, Ph.D., reported last month, the suspected case definition of monkeypox is broad enough to include anyone with a common cold — or with post-COVID-19-vaccine immune suppression — who has a shingles rash.

Verkerk’s counsel is to worry about “what the WHO and collaborating institutions, governments and corporations are up to,” rather than succumb to fear-mongering about monkeypox itself.

In the U.S., what the government is “up to” is ordering more than 4 million doses of monkeypox vaccine — a whitewashed smallpox vaccine linked to heart inflammation — and formulating a “national monkeypox vaccine strategy,” including a protocol aimed at the vaccine’s use in children.

In other words, with a “COVID-19 corporatocracy playbook” that, in Verkerk’s words, “is now well and truly oiled,” corporate and government leaders of ill intent appear to believe they can continue to play the vaccine game indefinitely, using “fear and manipulated science to engender support for the global control of health.”

It is up to us to prove them wrong.

© 2022 Children’s Health Defense, Inc. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of Children’s Health Defense, Inc. Want to learn more from Children’s Health Defense? Sign up for free news and updates from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Children’s Health Defense. Your donation will help to support us in our efforts.

July 15, 2022 Posted by | Science and Pseudo-Science, Timeless or most popular | , , , | Leave a comment

Russia comments on deadly strike on Ukrainian city

Firefighters extinguish fire in the city of Vinnytsia, west-central Ukraine on July 14, 2022. © AFP / Sergei SUPINSKY
Samizdat | July 15, 2022

The Russian military has confirmed launching a missile attack at a target in the city of Vinnitsa in Ukraine. It denied claims that it was a deliberate strike on civilians, stating that it hit Ukrainian military commanders as they negotiated with foreign arms suppliers.

Russia attacked the House of Military Officers in Vinnitsa with sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles, the Defense Ministry said on Friday during a daily briefing. The statement claimed that the attack happened when a group of Ukrainian senior military officers were holding a meeting with foreign arms suppliers. The discussion was about the “transfer of more warplanes and weapons systems as well as the repair of the Ukrainian military air fleet,” the ministry said. The Russian strike killed all participants at the gathering.

According to Ukrainian officials, the Russian strike killed 23 civilians and injured scores of others, 80 of whom had to be hospitalized for treatment. President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Moscow attacked the city center deliberately and accused it of terrorism.

The head of Vinnitsa Region, Sergey Borzov, reported that Ukrainian air defenses engaged Russian missiles over the city and claimed they intercepted four of them.

Kiev has accused Russia of waging a genocidal war, claiming that Russian forces have a policy of killing Ukrainians. Moscow has rejected such allegations, saying its forces only attack legitimate military targets.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”

In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.

July 15, 2022 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

Hamas: “Jerusalem Declaration” will not give Israel legitimacy

MEMO | July 15, 2022

Palestinian factions have categorically rejected the Jerusalem Declaration signed by US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, saying it represents “an aggression” against Palestinian people and their rights.

In its statement after Biden and Lapid signed the declaration on the strategic partnership between the two sides, Hamas explained that the agreement comes to further “consolidate Washington’s approach of siding with and supporting the occupation’s aggression against our Palestinian people and their Islamic and Christian lands and holy sites and a continuation of the US’ suspicious attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause by integrating this Zionist entity into our Arab and Islamic Ummah [nation].”

“This declaration expresses the blatant and unacceptable bias of the US administration toward the Zionist entity and its occupying agendas. It makes the US administration a partner in the Israeli occupation’s aggression and terrorism against our Palestinian land, people, and sanctities,” it added.

In turn, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine considered the deal a continuation of the aggression against the Palestinian people and their national rights and said it gives Israel more freedom to expand and deepen its colonial project in Palestine and its expansion abroad.

It called for “the escalation of all forms of resistance” against the “aggressive colonial and Zionist policies.”

For its part, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine said the Jerusalem Declaration is an open invitation to ignite regional wars and to reinforce Israel’s aggressive role at the expense of the interests of the peoples of the region under the pretext of Israel’s “right to defend itself”.

It warned of the repercussions of the plans of the United States and Israel to drown the region in “seas of blood and many problems such as impoverishment, starvation, waste of wealth and mass destruction”.

The four-page Jerusalem Declaration includes an American commitment to Israel’s security and its military superiority in the region.

July 15, 2022 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Emirati official: We oppose anti-Iran coalition in region

Anwar Gargash, the UAE president’s diplomatic adviser
Press TV – July 15, 2022

An Emirati official has dismissed the idea of forming a NATO-like military alliance in the region, saying the United Arab Emirates does not intend to form a regional coalition against any country, in particular Iran.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, the UAE president’s diplomatic adviser said a Middle East NATO was merely a “theoretical” concept and that confrontation was not an option for Abu Dhabi.

“We are open to cooperation, but not cooperation targeting any other country in the region and I specifically mention Iran,” Anwar Gargash said. “The UAE is not going to be a party to any group of countries that sees confrontation as a direction.”

He also said that the UAE was in the process of sending an ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“Our conversation is ongoing … we are in the process of sending an ambassador to Tehran. All these areas of rebuilding bridges are ongoing,” Gargash maintained.

“We have an open eye. We are very clear if something is defending the UAE and its civilians, of course we are open to these ideas, but not to the idea of creating any axes against this or that country,” he added.

In recent months, Iran and the UAE have intensified their efforts to rebuild relations affected by the years-long war in Yemen and other regional issues.

Last August, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi said that the Islamic Republic is determined and open to the expansion of relations with the UAE, stressing that Tehran sees no boundaries to the promotion of such ties, particularly trade and economic ones.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said after a May visit to the UAE that warm relations among neighbors disappoint the enemies.

“A new page was opened in the relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the UAE,” the top Iranian diplomat tweeted after meeting Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the newly-appointed president of the UAE, in Abu Dhabi on May 16.

“We warmly shake hands with our neighbors. The warmth of the neighbors’ relations disappoints the enemies of the region,” he added.

July 15, 2022 Posted by | Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

Israeli Generals Urge Political Command to Make Concessions to Lebanon in Maritime Conflict to Avoid Hezbollah War

Al-Manar – July 15, 2022

In light of the threats made by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah over the Zionist infringement on the Lebanese maritime borders, the Israeli media reflected calls on the government to eliminate Hezbollah pretexts to escalate the confrontation.

The US officials accompanying President Joe Biden during his visit to the occupied Palestinian territories stressed that they support the efforts exerted to reach a solution.

In this regard, the US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, “We listened to the ‘threats’, and we support reaching a solution.”

The US mediator, Amos Hochestein, told the Israeli media that he was still optimistic about achieving a solution, adding that his target concentrates on facilitating the negotiations.

Hochestein also revealed that he would visit Lebanon to meet the senior officials in the context of resuming the negotiations soon.

Meanwhile, the Zionist media reflected the Israeli circles frustration with Biden’s remarks which did not voice a clear support to ‘Israel’ pertaining the maritime border demarcation.

The Israeli army generals urged the Zionist government to avoid any escalation with Hezbollah by making concessions to Lebanon in the negotiations in order to avoid any military escalation with Hezbollah.

Sayyed Nasrallah warned on Wednesday the Israeli enemy and the United States that if Lebanon is prevented from extracting its maritime resources, none will be able to extract or sell gas and oil.

In a televised speech, Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that Hezbollah military forces are monitoring all the Zionist platforms across the occupied Palestinian coast, adding that the Resistance may resort to ground, maritime or air capabilities in order to attack the enemy and secure Lebanon’s rights.

According to Sayyed Nasrallah, the new equation is Karish, what’s beyond Karish and what’s far beyond Karish.

July 15, 2022 Posted by | Economics, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , | 1 Comment

Iran’s petrochemical output capacity to rise by 54% in 2025

Press TV – July 14, 2022

Iran will increase its production capacity for petrochemical products by more than a half in the next three years as the country moves ahead with plans to increase added value in its petroleum sector.

A Thursday report by the official IRNA news agency said Iran will launch a total of 35 new petrochemical plants by 2025 to increase the output capacity in the sector by 54% to 140 million metric tons per annum (mtpa).

It said petrochemical output capacity in Iran had increased by 7% in the calendar year to March 2022 to reach nearly 91 million mtpa thanks to the completion of seven new petrochemical projects across the country.

Iran’s sales of petrochemicals, including exports to other countries, also rose by 4.4% in the calendar year to late March with government figures showing that exports proceeds from the sector reached nearly $12.5 billion over that period.

Iran has relied on petrochemicals as a major source of earning hard currency in recent years as the country has been facing a series of tough American sanctions targeting its direct exports of crude oil.

China has been the top customer of Iranian petrochemical shipments in recent years while exports to countries in the region have also surged since the United States imposed its sanctions on Iran in 2018.

The expansion of the Iranian petrochemical sector has also led to a significant rise in the number of jobs in the country. Estimates suggest the number of direct jobs in the sector is more than 920,000 compared with a total of 107,000 direct jobs registered in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry in Iran.

July 15, 2022 Posted by | Economics | , , | Leave a comment

Russia Continues To Earn More By Exporting Less Oil

By Tyler Durden | Zero Hedge | July 14, 2022

Russian export revenues in June rose by $700m to the $20 billion mark, despite that oil exports fell by 250k b/d m/m to 7.4m b/d, the lowest since August 2021, Bloomberg’s Sherry Su reports citing the IEA’s latest Oil Market Report.

Compared to a post-war peak level in April, total Russian oil exports in June were down 530k b/d, Or 7%, but export revenues were up by $2.3 billion, or 13%.

Crude oil exports were down by 250k b/d in June to just above 5m b/d, still slightly higher than the pre-war average level according to Su. Shipments to the EU fell below 3m b/d for the first time since November 2020, bringing the EU share of Russian oil exports to 40%, compared to 49% in January-February.

Crude oil loadings to EU destinations fell 190k b/d m/m to 1.8m b/d, partly because of lower offtake on the Druzhba pipeline due to maintenance at a Hungarian refinery in June. Meanwhile, product loadings to the European Union fell by 135k b/d to 1.13m b/d, the IEA said.

The fall in crude oil volumes came mostly from lower loadings on the Black Sea, as Rosneft’s 240k b/d Tuapse refinery reportedly came back online in June after a three-month shutdown.

Total product exports out of Russia were relatively unchanged in June. Diesel exports increased slightly m/m to 825k b/d, 300k b/d lower than the pre-war average. Diesel Loadings to EU countries ticked up to 650 kb/d, returning to January-February average levels.

July 15, 2022 Posted by | Economics | | Leave a comment

“Made in America” Mini-nukes to be used in a “Nuclear First Strike” coming soon to Italy, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands.

By Manlio Dinucci – byoblu – July 15, 2022

“Production of the B61-12 nuclear bomb begins,” Sandia National Laboratories announced from the United States. The B61-12, which replaces the previous B61 deployed by the U.S. at Aviano and Ghedi and other European bases, is a new type of weapon. It has a nuclear warhead with four power options, selectable depending on the target to be destroyed. It is not dropped vertically, but at a distance from the target on which it is directed guided by a satellite system. It can penetrate underground, exploding deep to destroy command center bunkers in a nuclear first strike.

The B61-12s, classified as “non-strategic nuclear weapons,” are deployed in Europe — in Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Britain and probably other countries — at distances far enough to strike Russia. They thus have offensive capabilities similar to those of strategic weapons.

Another nuclear weapon system, which the United States is preparing to install in Europe against Russia, is ground-based intermediate-range missiles. They can also be launched from “anti-missile shield” installations, deployed by the U.S. at bases in Deveselu in Romania and Redzikowo in Poland, and aboard five warships cruising in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Baltic Sea close to Russia.

That such installations have offensive capabilities is confirmed by Lockheed Martin itself. Outlining the characteristics of the Mk 41 vertical launch system, used in both land and naval installations, it specifies that it is capable of launching “missiles for all missions, both defense and long-range attack, including Tomahawk cruise missiles.” These can be armed with nuclear warheads.

Europe is thus being turned by the U.S. into the front line of a nuclear confrontation with Russia, even more dangerous than that of the Cold War.

July 15, 2022 Posted by | Militarism | , , , , | 1 Comment

Starving Italians storm town hall

Free West Media | July 15, 2022

Are these the kind of conditions that we will soon see more often in Europe? In an Italian city, angry citizens stormed the city hall because they had no more money to afford groceries. The mayor refused to receive the angry crowd.

Italian citizens stormed La Spezia City Hall after the mayor refused to receive them: “I have no money to buy bread, what will my daughter eat tonight?” cried a disappointed mother at the official residence of the city. The incident is said to have taken place in the Italian city on Wednesday.

The mayor Pierluigi Peracchini decided to ignore the problems that his constituents have been facing. He is said to have even denied the citizens access to the town hall for a discussion. Rather, as video recordings show, police officers from the local municipality prevented the angry people from penetrating further into the building.

Mayor Peracchini (58) ran for the Coraggio Italia party, a centre-right party. In Italy, the ruthless hammer of inflation has been brought down on citizens. Just recently, shocking video footage of a never-ending line of people circulating outside a food bank in Milan surfaced on Twitter.

Draghi government implode

Many blame Italy’s prime minister, ex-ECB boss Mario Draghi (74). In German-speaking countries, Draghi is however often referred to as a “blessing” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), a “moderniser” or “Super Mario” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). Italians, on the other hand, who have been on the receiving end of his policies, have strongly criticized the social and economic direction of the Prime Minister, who has been in office since February 2021.

In the meantime, Draghi is facing the collapse of his government, because the Five Star Movement [Cinque Stelle] is planning to withdraw from the multi-party coalition over Italian arms deliveries to Ukraine.

In Rome this week, workers, taxi drivers, farmers, fishermen, street vendors and truckers ​are on the hunt for politicians and masses of angry people have besieged parliament for the second consecutive day.

The Uber Files scandal – leading to the liberalization of taxi licenses imposed by Mario Draghi – has stirred up citizens in particular. At the seat of government, a crowd was seen chanting on Friday: “Come down or we will go up!” A heavy police presence has been noted in the Italian capital.

After the fall of Boris Johnson

After the demise of Boris Johnson the implosion of the Draghi government in Italy is not formally connected to the situation in Ukraine, but it was most certainly this that ruined his tenure. The economic consequences of this war for Italy were such that the ruling coalition could not agree on measures to support the Italian economy due to the economic crisis generated by the war.

Draghi’s resignation, coupled with Johnson’s resignation, now makes it clear that European politicians do not have the opportunity to cover the growing economic crisis and falling living standards with cries of “Putin is to blame”. According to Italian pundit Lorenzo Vita, the premier was “recognized in the EU, NATO and major international circuits” as an important leader, but certainly not at home.

The likely defeat of the Democrats in the midterm congressional elections in the US, for the same reasons, will most probably confirm this trend.

The refusal of the President of Italy to accept Draghi’s resignation in the conditions of the collapse of the coalition does not change much – Italy will most likely move towards new elections.

July 15, 2022 Posted by | Economics | , | 1 Comment

‘EU may cut financial aid to Ukraine’

Samizdat – July 15, 2022

The funds promised to Ukraine by the EU have been delayed due to concerns over the bloc’s own economic troubles and infighting in Brussels, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the discussions.

Back in March, the European Commission proposed a €9 billion ($9 billion) loan to Ukraine that would be backed by the guarantees of EU members’ governments. However, so far the bloc has managed to agree only on a first tranche worth €1 billion, which was unveiled on Tuesday.

According to Bloomberg, the hang up is because Germany tried to convince the EU to provide non-refundable grants through the International Monetary Fund rather than loans to Kiev.

A German official was quoted as saying that Berlin does not want to bear the brunt of guaranteeing Ukrainian loans and has asked other members to chip in more.

Separately, a €1.5 billion loan by the European Investment Bank was said to have been blocked within the EU because more guarantees are needed to secure the sum.

The news comes as the EU is grappling with soaring inflation. Germany has been particularly concerned that sanctions and tensions with Russia could compel Moscow to cut off the flow of Russian gas, which could cripple the German economy.

The German government has repeatedly warned that such a scenario would increase unemployment and poverty. Fuel shortages would be “catastrophic” for some industries, Economy Minister Robert Habeck told the magazine Der Spiegel last month.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban raised a similar point on Friday, saying that by imposing sanctions “the European economy has shot itself in the lungs, and it is gasping for air.”

According to Bloomberg, around a third of the 27 member states warned at a meeting of EU finance ministers on Tuesday that additional support was needed for “the most vulnerable groups inside the bloc affected by the ongoing crisis to prevent disaffection toward Kiev.”

An EU official was quoted as saying that Paolo Gentiloni, the bloc’s economy commissioner, told colleagues at a closed-door meeting that national governments needed to “avoid the risk of fatigue among Europeans.”

Western countries, including EU nations, imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia after it sent troops to Ukraine in late February. Last month, the Group of Seven (G7), which includes EU economic powerhouse Germany, pledged to support Kiev “for as long as it takes.”

July 15, 2022 Posted by | Economics | , | 2 Comments

US Gets 14 Straight Months of Roaring Inflation Since Biden Regime Dubbed Issue ‘Transitory’

Samizdat – 15.07.2022

Data put out by the Labor Department this week showed that the Consumer Price Index hit 9.1 percent in June, its sharpest monthly increase since 1981 and the height of the ‘malaise days’ of the late Carter and early Reagan years. On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admitted that inflation was “unacceptably high,” but blamed Russia.

The United States has lived through 14 straight months of higher and higher inflation since President Biden and his economic advisors deemed the issue a “temporary” and “transitory” issue that would quickly be brought under control.

“I really doubt that we’re going to see an inflationary cycle, although I will say that all the economists in the administration are watching that very closely. As my colleagues have said… we expect somewhat higher inflation over the next several months for a variety of essentially technical reasons… but that’s a transitory thing, not something that’s associated with a buildup in wage pressures,” Yellen said in a press conference on May 7, 2021.

Two months later, in mid-July 2021, President Biden assured Americans that recent price increases were “temporary,” and not connected in any way, shape or form to his administration’s spending plans. “As our economy has come roaring back, we’ve seen some price increases. Some folks have raised worries that this could be a sign of persistent inflation, but that’s not our view. Our experts believe and the data shows that most of the price increases we’ve seen were expected and are expected to be temporary,” Biden insisted.

What followed has been a steady ladder-shaped month-by-month increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) – the national inflation measure based on the price of a weighted basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Inflation crept up 5.4 percent year-on-year (YOY) in July of 2021, 6.2 percent YOY in October, 7.5 percent YOY in January, 8.3 percent YOY in April and YOY 9.1 percent in June.

source: tradingeconomics.com

On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed support for the Federal Reserve’s decision to double interest rates to bring down the “unacceptably high” level of inflation, and assured that the issue was the administration’s “top priority.”

Yellen echoed Mr. Biden’s claims that America’s economic problems were partly Russia’s fault, calling the inflation rate one of the “spillover effects” caused by “Putin’s war” in Ukraine. Yellen added that broken supply chains were part of the problem, and called on G20 economies to “make our economies and our supply chains stronger and more resilient and avoid the sort of costly disruptions that have driven up inflation in America and globally.”

Last month, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell broke with the Biden administration’s “Putin’s price hike” talking point, telling lawmakers at a Senate Banking Committee hearing that “inflation was high before – certainly before the war in Ukraine broke out,” and that the phenomenon is caused by a number of factors, including supply chain disruptions, regulations that constrain supply, and “excessive fiscal spending.”

June’s inflation rate hike constituted the sharpest jump since 1981 – the height of the ‘malaise days’ of raging inflation, low growth, and soaring energy costs. The problem was ultimately resolved by temporarily increasing the interest rate to double digits, easing restrictions on adding to the federal debt, steep government spending cuts and a consumer credit boom.

July 15, 2022 Posted by | Economics | , | 3 Comments

Kiev gathering information about chemical facilities in Donbass, might use HIMARS to target them

By Uriel Araujo | July 15, 2022

Kiev is now employing the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) provided by Washington to strike Moscow-controlled areas. Such missiles hit warehouses in Nova Kakhovka – in the Kherson region – containing saltpetre, a chemical compound that is used to make gunpowder and fertilizers. Ukraine claims the target was an ammunition dump. The strike caused a major explosion and fires. Shops, gas stations, pharmacies, a church, and other civilian buildings were also hit. At least seven people were killed and 60 have been wounded, according to Vladimir Leontyev, head of the Russian-controlled Kakhovka District military-civilian administration.

The first M142 HIMARS arrived in Ukraine at the end of June and have been linked to explosions in the Donbass region and southern Ukraine. In its counter-offensive, the Ukrainian authorities are indiscriminately attacking the areas whose control they lost and are basically shelling the very population they consider to be their own people – using American weapons for that. City districts have been leveled, with civilian infrastructure destroyed and many civilians killed in the process.

Last week, Alexandr Shulguin, Moscow’s permanent representative at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), warned that Kiev is preparing provocations with chemical weapons at the Nikolaevka thermal power plant and also at other locations in Kharkiv. He told Rossiya 24 channel that a note was sent to the technical secretariat of the OPCW.

Kiev was in control of the Azot chemical factory in Severodonetsk (now taken by the Russians forces), and, on June 25, Ukrainian shelling forced Russian forces to suspend the evacuation of civilians from the plant. Hundreds of people had taken shelter there. Ukrainian troops also shelled the Yasinovka coking chemical plant in the Kirovsky district of Makiivka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on June 19.

Already in May there were reports that Ukrainian nationalist battalions were plotting provocations at the chemical facilities in the so-called “chemical industry triangle” (Severodonetsk, Lisichansk, and Rubezhnoye), which is home to over 30 chemical factories. On May 6, Mikhail Mizintsev, chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, had already warned about Kiev’s plans to deploy “heavy weapons” against chemical plants in the region. In fact, the Ukrainian military has been gathering information about chemical facilities in the Donbass, both in the DPR and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).

Thus, the Ukrainian strategy that is unfolding now seems to involve attacking chemical plants and facilities. And US-provided missile systems might be used for that very purpose. The environmental hazards of this are quite obvious, not to mention the humanitarian disaster and the potential long-term health effects on the population even after the end of the conflict for many years to come (due to soil and water contamination). A lot of chemicals are stored in Donbass, which is a heavily industrialized region. It is also home to a number of mines which are currently closed. If a dam is broken, mercury and sulfur from the flooded mines could end up in the Sea of Azov.

Currently, eight American HIMARs are in Ukraine and four more are expected to arrive by the end of July. Even though Kiev claims this new development is a game changer, it can only protract the conflict and in fact cannot ensure Ukrainians will retake terrain. Last week, on July 6, the Russian defense ministry announced Moscow had destroyed two Ukrainian HIMARS and their ammunition depots in a village south of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region.

If Kiev keeps targeting chemical facilities, a Russian offensive is sure to follow, and it will include an aerial onslaught. In this scenario, the HIMARs batteries will be helpless, according to a Ukrainian military official quoted by Jack Detsch, a Pentagon correspondent writing for Foreign Policy.

The proxy war the US-led West is waging against Moscow in Ukraine does not seem to have a way out or an exit strategy right now. Even with all the heavy weaponry provided, Russia and its artillery machine cannot be defeated. In fact, the Russian Federation controls three-quarters of the Donbass and still has five times more artillery than Ukraine. Ukrainian officials say there are 10 Russian canons for every Ukrainian one.

Kiev’s other weaknesses are well known, such as its lack of skilled infantry – not to mention the bad shape of its economy. Moreover, there are no real diplomatic endeavors toward peace or a compromise. So, the Western strategy apparently consists in keeping the flow of weapons to Ukraine to prolong an already disastrous conflict, at an enormous humanitarian, environmental and economic cost.

July 15, 2022 Posted by | False Flag Terrorism, War Crimes | , , | Leave a comment

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