Aletho News

ΑΛΗΘΩΣ

The Zero Emissions Grid Demonstration Project Follies

By Francis Menton | Manhattan Contrarian | August 10, 2024

I claim credit for being the first person to demand a demonstration project to show how a zero emissions electrical grid is supposed to work, before trying to build such a thing for our entire population of three hundred million as involuntary guinea pigs.

How could it be that lots of others haven’t been demanding this for years? It’s like everyone has lost their minds. Before climate hysteria set in, the idea of attempting an engineering project as enormous as a zero emissions electrical grid for the United States, or even for one state, without first having a functioning demonstration project, would have been completely unthinkable. But under the powerful sway of the fear of climate armageddon, the need for a demonstration project to prove feasibility never seems to occur to anybody. And thus trillions of dollars are getting spent — wasted — on facilities that anyone with a brain can easily see will never come close to providing a zero emissions grid — although building these facilities will greatly drive up the cost of electricity to consumers.

Let me then welcome an important new voice to the still tiny chorus of those demanding a demonstration project. The new voice is Congresswoman Harriet Hageman of Wyoming. (Ms. Hageman is the woman who took out the former Wyoming Congresswoman, Liz Cheney, in a primary in 2022.)

Ms. Hageman went public with her demand at a town hall held this past Tuesday, August 6, in Jackson, Wyoming. She proposed that the ultra-liberal town of Boulder, Colorado, step up as the potential guinea pig. Wyoming-based news source WyoFile had the story on August 7, with the headline “Hageman proposes a Boulder, Colorado, fossil-fuel-free experiment.” Excerpt:

[Hageman] proposed a pilot project that would strip Boulder, Colorado, a progressive enclave, of its fossil fuel infrastructure — all to be replaced with windmills and solar panels on the city’s open space. “The pilot project is, you take out all their gas stations,” she said to a crowd of about 70 people in the Teton County Library. “We take away all their internal combustion engines — cars. We take away all of their highways and streets, because that’s all oil-and-gas-produced.” . . . “They’ve been a no-growth city for decades,” Hageman said, “so they have a lot of open space around them. We fill out open space with windmills and solar panels, and we’ll see if we can actually run a city of 100,000 people [with] no fossil fuels whatsoever.”

According to WyoFile, Hageman’s remarks drew a response of “applause and laughter” from the supportive crowd in Jackson. However, the WyoFile reporter took the proposal to a City Councilman in Boulder named Mark Wallach, and asked for comment. Wallach was not amused. Here is Wallach’s reaction:

“One of the things that makes people so leery of politics and politicians is when people make ridiculous suggestions like that,” [Wallach] said in a telephone interview with WyoFile. “Nobody on the Boulder Council suggested we can do without all the fossil fuels at this point,” he said. “We make efforts to do better — to recognize that climate change is real and we do things we can do to combat it.”

Well, Mark, what am I missing? If the good people of Boulder are demanding that the whole country be force-marched to a zero emissions future, why shouldn’t they be willing to step up themselves and show that the goal is feasible to achieve? A simple zero-emissions-grid demonstration project is all that it will take.

And, if I might make a suggestion to Ms. Hageman, there is no need to be punitive about this. The claim of the green energy advocates is that electricity from wind and sun are cheaper than electricity from hydrocarbon fuels, and that electric cars and electric heat will be cheaper and better than the cars and heat we have now. So there is no need to forcibly take away the cars and the gas stations. Just have them build the magical zero-emissions grid and, if they can do it, they will have plenty of electricity to power everything, and the gas-powered cars and gas stations will rapidly fade away.

The problem is that it is not going to be possible to build a zero-emissions grid. However, the people of Boulder clearly think that it is going to be possible, and I am perfectly willing to be proved wrong.

But my confidence that I am right only increases with time. The closest thing that the world has to an attempted demonstration project of a zero emissions grid continues to fail spectacularly. That would be the Gorona del Viento project on El Hierro Island in Spain’s Canary Islands.

I have written about the El Hierro project many times, and will not go into the full background here. Suffice it to say that El Hierro was absolutely intended to be a demonstration of a zero emissions grid. A facility of five large wind turbines and a massive pumped-storage hydro backup facility (Gorona del Viento) was built and opened in 2014. The website of Gorona del Viento continues to proclaim on its opening page: “An island 100% renewable energy.” Hah!

It’s an island of about 10,000 people. Average electricity demand is 4-5 MW, and peak demand is about 7.5 MW. Roger Andrews did an independent analysis of the project for the Energy Matters website back in 2017. They built wind turbines with nameplate capacity of 11.5 MW on a mountainside in the trade-winds zone — about the most favorable wind conditions in the world. The hydro storage facility has a capacity of some 270 MWh, which is about 54 – 68 hours of average usage. (By contrast, New York governor Kathy Hochul has a big storage initiative to spend about $10 billion to build one hour of storage.). Doesn’t it sound like El Hierro has what they need to make this work?

Here are the latest statistics from Gorona del Viento, for the full year 2023. The percent of electricity for the island supplied by the wind/storage system for the full year was 35%. The other 65% came from the backup diesel generator. The best month for the wind/storage system was July, when it supplied 62% of the island’s electricity. But then there was October, when it only supplied 10%.

How could they be failing so completely with so much excess generation capacity and a huge storage facility that no one in the world can duplicate? You’ll have to ask them. I’m just reporting the statistics they put out themselves.

This is the best that anyone in the world can do, at least so far. Boulder: it’s up to you to show how this can be done!

August 19, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Malthusian Ideology, Phony Scarcity | Leave a comment

Nord Stream 2: Is the Bus Coming for Zelensky and Duda?

By Hans Vogel | ARKTOS | August 17, 2024

Just a few days ago, a former German spy chief stated that the sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was planned and ordered by Ukrainian satrap Zelensky and Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Now that the elaborate US narrative on the war in the Ukraine is beginning to come apart at the seams, now that the ultimate defeat of the Ukraine puppet government is becoming ever more apparent, the hour is approaching to throw Zelensky, that talented little piano player in his green T-shirt, under the bus.

With some two thousand Ukrainian soldiers being sacrificed on a daily basis on the altar of the Wall Street Money Gods, the Ukraine will soon have to perish. Now that the Kursk operation, planned on the Potomac and carried out by Western mercenaries, has failed, now that the inferiority of Western arms can no longer be hidden from the public, something was needed to divert attention.

This was done by dusting off an older issue: Nord Stream 2. Joe Biden once threatened to blow it up. However, when it was actually blown up, all of Washington’s lackeys in Europe pointed their little fingers at Russia. It was Putin who did it! Although the German economy was hit the hardest when competitively priced Russian natural gas, vital for its industry and keeping warm in winter, stopped flowing, the German government seemed at a loss. What would their masters in Washington allow them to say and do?

The Scholz government also began to divert the public’s attention, relying chiefly on two apparently mentally retarded, but nonetheless vocal cabinet members. One is Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, a bimbo of unparalleled imbecility, who tours the world making utterly dumb statements. The other is Robert Habeck, the Minister of Economics, who at least seems to have one brain cell more.

After US media suggested it was the Ukrainians who destroyed the pipeline, the former German spy chief joined the chorus, adding that Zelensky did it together with Duda.

Since his reelection in 2020, Duda initially seemed quite OK on account of his unflinching support for the Ukraine, especially after the start of the Russian Special Military Operation in February 2022. With much of the Ukraine historically having been part of Poland at different moments in history, Polish support for a Ukrainian government is always just a bit suspicious. Especially since many Polish nationalists have a very strong historical awareness and continue to regard the Ukraine as part of Poland.

There is, however, another side to Duda: he is a devout Roman Catholic and as such not to be regarded as a complacent and cooperative adherent of gender lunacy. Since this gender lunacy, represented by the LGB-whatever rainbow flag flown at US embassies, is a cornerstone of US foreign policy, the leader of a US satrapy cannot be allowed to ignore this issue or to oppose it! God of Money forbid!

Yet this is precisely what Duda has done. Correctly branding gender lunacy a “foreign ideology,” he was set on changing the Polish Constitution in order to prohibit lesbian and gay couples from adopting children.

Another stain on Duda’s reputation is his failed attempt to make it illegal to blame the Polish nation for anything unpleasant that happened on Polish territory to Jews during the years 1939-1945.

The fact Duda has been indicated as an accomplice in the Nord Stream 2 sabotage provides a nice insight into the way the Empire works. When there is a problem somewhere out there in the imperial boondocks, the local underlings are instructed to take care of the issue, and that way the imperial leadership does not need to soil its own hands.

When the bus arrives, it will crush Zelensky, but quite likely the Polish President as well. Two birds with one stone.

One has to admit, that took some shrewd and refined planning!

August 19, 2024 Posted by | Economics, False Flag Terrorism | , , , | Leave a comment

Nord Stream 2 bombing and Zelensky’s “three men and a boat” story

By Martin Jay | Strategic Culture Foundation | August 17, 2024

Nord Stream 2 bombing is in the headlines again, with a recent report which appears to come from Kiev claiming that it was the Ukrainians all along who were behind it. The claims, which have been denied by Zelensky naturally, are preposterous as they are ill-timed. But what’s really behind this latest fake news story?

In a nutshell, Joe Biden needs to clean up his backyard to help Kamala Harris get elected and in Ukraine there is quite a bit of tidying up which needs doing – not only for Ukraine itself to sustain relations with a new administration in Washington but also for America’s relations with Germany and the EU.

And so a fable has been invented which both tidies up any loose ends between Washington and Germany – as the U.S. bombing the pipelines creates unease and tensions between the Biden administration and that of Scholz’s – as well as helping the Ukrainians and Harris.

The whole Nord Steam2 pipeline bombing which happened in September 2022, a few months after the Russian invasion, is a clever web of lies crafted by the Americans, when all along it was U.S. special forces with the help of the Norwegians who planted the devices in June of the same year, three months before they were finally detonated.

Initially, it was very suspicious at the speed of how Russia was blamed.

“Everything is pointing to Russia,” blared a POLITICO headline two days after the explosions. Quoted in the piece were a number of foreign commentators including a top German spymaster arguing that only Russia had the means and motives to do it. There is no elaboration however on motive given that it was Russia’s gas supply deal to Germany which was being abruptly halted.

Remarkably, a lie moves so quickly while the truth is still putting its shoes on. Within days, respectable leading analysts were also pointing the finger at Russia without a trace of evidence to support their ludicrous claims.

“We still don’t know 100 percent that Russia was responsible,” said Olga Khakova, deputy director for European energy security at the Atlantic Council. “But everything is pointing to Russia being behind this.” U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told BBC on Sept. 30 that it “seems” Russia was behind the sabotage.

Most western journalists followed the narrative put out by the Americans and chose just simply to not look at it too closely or too sceptically. If any had, they might have simply asked who are the winners and losers?

They would have only needed to look at the gas market in the following weeks and to see that the U.S. firms had new clients in Europe who were paying three times the normal price. That should have been a clue.

Secondly, the geopolitics and Germany. Biden hade it very clear just two weeks before the Ukraine war started when the German chancellor visited the Oval Office in February 2022, what Biden was planning on doing both about the pipelines and Germany itself whose leader Scholz was very reluctant to go to war with Ukraine.

“If Russia invades – that means tanks and troops crossing . . . the border of Ukraine again,” Biden said, “there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.”

When asked how he could do so as the pipeline was under Germany’s control, the U.S. president spelled it out: “We will, I promise you, we’ll be able to do it.”

Six months later, when the pipelines blew up, Germany quickly came on board with the war plan. Game changer.

Remarkably, Biden is not the first U.S. president to have plans to disrupt the pipeline which could lead some journalists to look at the Ukraine more deeply and wonder whether it was a U.S. plan all along to goad Putin into invading simply for the excuse to blow them up.

As former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice noted back in 2014 when U.S. meddling in the internal affairs of Ukraine had peaked.

“You want to change the structure of energy dependence. You want to depend more on the North American energy platform… You want to have pipelines that don’t go through Ukraine and Russia. For years, we’ve tried to get the Europeans interested in different pipeline routes. It’s time to do that.”

Could there be a better example of a smoking gun that these comments? They’re certainly worth reflecting upon when weighing up who has the fake story, the Ukrainians or Seymore Hersh. The Americans are the only ones who had the longer-term motive, the military capability, the financial incentive and the geopolitical advantage to pull off the Nord Stream sabotage. If you are a journalist and you are ready to indulge yourself with the latest tour de force of fake news about Ukraine pulling it off, then you probably also believe in fairies at the bottom of the garden or toothpaste which claims to whiten your teeth.

August 17, 2024 Posted by | Economics, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Israeli economy in chaos in anticipation of Iran, Hezbollah responses

Al Mayadeen | August 15, 2024

The Israeli occupation’s anticipation of Hezbollah and Iranian response to Israeli assassinations carried out in late July has pushed the regime into “economic chaos”, Israeli media outlets reported.

The economic affairs commentator for Israeli broadcaster Channel 13 underlined that the past two weeks have “exhausted” the Israeli market. Several economic events were canceled in Israeli-occupied territories, while others were reduced due to the state of anxiety experienced among settlers.

Economic activities have also been affected by the operational measures issued by Israeli authorities, in preparation for retaliatory strikes by Hezbollah and Iran.

The Israeli commentator highlighted the significant losses that affected the Israeli tourism sector, largely linked to international flight cancellations to Israeli-occupied airports. An increasing number of Israeli settlers have been stranded in other countries due to the wide-scale cancelation of flights. The possibilities of responses launched by the Axis of Resistance have also impacted hotels and other hospitality and tourism businesses in the northern Israeli-occupied territories, which may be directly affected by future strikes.

The commentator warned that these challenging conditions and operational measures, which are also impacting the medical and energy sectors, could persist well into September.

If the wait continues into next month, the Israeli educational sector will also be severely affected by operational measures, forcing institutions to “maneuver within combat scenarios.”

August 15, 2024 Posted by | Economics | , , , , , | Leave a comment

PM Kishida Who Militarized Japan at US’ Behest to Resign

By Oleg Burunov – Sputnik – 14.08.2024

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced he will quit as leader of the country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), amid his sinking approval rating resulting from the LDP-related corruption scandal, rising living costs, and a slumping yen.

Under Kishida, Japan pledged to double its defense spending up to the NATO standard of two percent of gross domestic product by 2027, in a US-encouraged U-turn from decades of strict pacifism.

Public support for Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet plummeted to 15.5% last month, another low since the LDP returned to power in Japan in December 2012.

Apart from his poor domestic strategy, what developments have marked Kishida’s foreign policy?

  • Japan under Kishida has fueled the Ukrainian conflict by providing more than $12 billion of financial and other aid to the Kiev regime since 2022, per the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
  • Japan embarked on the path of militarization, issuing in 2022 a new national security doctrine aimed at doubling the country’s defense spending within the next five years.
  • The same year, Japan’s parliament did not think twice before approving a deal to spend $8.6 billion over five years to host American military personnel on Japanese soil.
  • Tokyo continues to take part in the annual US-led RIMPAC, the world’s largest maritime military drills described by Chinese experts as “demonstration of America’s hegemony” in the region.
  • The US currently has about 56,000 active-duty service members in Japan, more than in any other country, according to Pentagon data.
  • Last month, Japan agreed on establishing a Joint Operations Command (JJOC) with the US on its territory by next March.
  • What’s more, Tokyo and Washington reportedly discussed “extended deterrence”, which stipulated for the use of nuclear weapons in US protection of Japan.
  • The US is now pushing for Japan to be included in Pillar II of the AUKUS agreement. China has repeatedly castigated the arrangement as part of America’s “new Cold War” antagonism aimed at containing Beijing by fueling the militarization of the Asia-Pacific region.

August 14, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Why neutral Austria joined the EU sanctions policy against Russia

By Patrick Poppel | August 14, 2024

It is known that the then Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz campaigned very strongly for the establishment of sanctions against Russia in 2014, but a lot of time has passed since this situation and yet a neutral state like Austria is still in line with the sanctions policy against Russia.

You have to ask yourself why Austria plays such a role even though it doesn’t really fit the identity of a neutral state in full. Austria’s task would be to play a role as a mediator and not as a supporter of the EU’s aggressive policy against Russia. Inexperienced and young politician Sebastian Kurz brought Austria’s foreign policy in accordance with the EU requirements and transatlantic forces and then quickly became Chancellor of Austria.

Behavior against national interests is immediately rewarded by the structures in the background. Although Austria has always been the place for mediation between rivals in Europe, that has changed radically with the support of sanctions against Russia. Back in 2014, Austria was chosen as an example to show all European politicians that it is important to establish sanctions against Russia.

If a neutral state like Austria supports sanctions, then states that are members of NATO will no longer consider discussing them. The unified willingness of all EU states to impose sanctions against Russia can only be explained by the fact that an atmosphere of unanimity was created.

Since sanctions also damage one’s own economy, such a rigid measure must always be carefully analyzed and discussed beforehand. But that was not done because the established political atmosphere made it clear that sanctions must be imposed at all costs.

“If Austria is also for sanctions, then everyone is for it!” was the logic of the politicians. This course started in 2014 and continues to this day without letup.

The argument that if even a neutral state supports the sanctions it is legitimate is, of course, an ingenious manipulation. The question now naturally arises as to whether this situation arose by chance due to the incompetence of Austrian politics or whether it is a planned process. The second possibility becomes more and more likely when the facts are analyzed more closely.

It was immediately clear to everyone that the sanctions would be very dangerous for the Austrian economy and this political action does not fit with the Austrian political culture of neutrality. It is certainly possible that the behavior of politicians was prepared and influenced here from the outside.

The only question is who benefited from it. The large lobby of Austrian business and industry did not benefit from the sanctions. Although this lobby had massive influence on the government at the time, support for sanctions against Russia could not be prevented. Actually, this seems inexplicable for observers. Why weren’t there protests from business people immediately at the start of the sanctions?

There are events in world history that happen by chance and have a major impact on the future, but when it comes to Austria’s sanctions policy against Russia a plan and a structure are clearly visible. Since not a single business in Austria benefited from this development, this operation can only have been controlled from abroad. It will be very difficult to prove this, but this foreign influence is the only explanation for the behavior of Austrian politicians.

Of course, one can also think in detail about the role of the Austrian government which actually has the task of warding off foreign influence on the government. As a small country, Austria is exposed to strong influence from the big geopolitical players.

The fact that many important international organizations are located in Austria also makes Austria a target for foreign secret services, but also a place for general foreign interests. Austrian politicians are more exposed to these influences than politicians from other countries and the agents who work in Vienna easily get contact and access to important people in the state.

The Austrian government’s decision to support sanctions against Russia was not understood by many people because it was against common sense. But we are currently living in a time where a lot of developments are happening in the background. We live in a time in which it is very easy to quickly transmit information and coordinate actions that have been planned long in advance.

Just as the Maidan uprising was planned a long time ago, these forces have dealt with and prepared for the possible establishment of sanctions. If you follow the principle “Who benefits?”, it is clear that the Austrian government’s decision at the time is of no use to the government or the population in the long term. The sanctions only help those who cannot be affected by them.

The current fact that OMV (Austrian Mineral Oil Administration) will withdraw from the contract with its Russian partners can only be explained by external influence. Austrians will have to pay a lot more for gas in the future. The population will accept this because the media does not accurately report the reasons for it. All of these facts can be put together to form a picture and the result is that Austria plays a crucial negative role in imposing sanctions against Russia.

Patrick Poppel, expert at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, Belgrade.

August 14, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Russophobia | , | Leave a comment

Thailand aborts the colour revolution

By M. K. BHADRAKUMAR  | Indian Punchline | August 9, 2024 

The curtain has come down on the abortive colour revolution in Thailand with the country’s Constitutional Court ordering the dissolution on Wednesday of the anti-establishment opposition party Move Forward, widely regarded as a US proxy. 

It coincides with the stunning success of the hastily staged colour revolution in Bangladesh and the fall of the key military base of the Myanmar army’s Northeast Command in Lashio in the Shan state over the weekend to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the rebel groups armed, financed and trained by the Western intelligence.

The Shan people who belong to the Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia are the biggest minority of Myanmar (10% of the population) and they have cultural affinity with the Northern Thai peoples and also have a significant presence in the adjacent regions of Assam and Meghalaya in India. 

The capture of Lashio by the alliance of militias of ethnic minority groups supported by the western intelligence is seen as a serious blow to the regime in Myanmar, which enjoys the backing of the military leadership in Thailand and is a strong ally of Russia. 

Lashio is situated on an important trade route and is about 100 kms only from the Chinese border. Newsweek magazine in a report titled China Faces Growing War on Its Border cited an expert opinion of the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace think tank (which is wired into the US intelligence establishment) that:

“From China’s vantage point, the escalation of the conflict is a major setback in terms of its interest in… getting the belligerent parties to establish further deals to reset trade between the China border and Mandalay.

“China seems very concerned, as it will be very difficult for the Myanmar military to bounce back from this setback, yet the Myanmar military is not signalling a desire to return to the table or an interest in making significant concessions to the northern EAOs (alliance of tribal groups), which is what China has been pressuring it to do.” 

According to latest reports, American and British “volunteers” have been lately joining the ranks of the rebels fighting the Myanmar military — although, these are early days and Myanmar has not experienced yet the same wave of international volunteers seen in conflicts such as Ukraine or Syria, and there are no coordinated efforts apparent to enlist foreign recruits.  

The Myanmar military supremo General Min Aung Hlaing has alleged that the rebel alliance is receiving weapons, including drones and short-range missiles, from “foreign” sources.  “It is necessary to analyse the sources of monetary and technological power,” he said. Myanmar’s military has 14 regional commands across the country, and the Northeast Command is the first to fall to armed rebel groups. 

Meanwhile, the Arakan Army (AA) — a powerful ethnic armed group which is fighting to establish an independent Rakhine polity in western Myanmar — has been on the move committing atrocities against the Rohingya minority population taking advantage of the military’s current overstretch. 

AA has made significant gains in Rakhine State in the recent months and reportedly exercises control over more than half of the state’s 17 townships. By the way, the Arakanese people also exist in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts and in India’s Tripura state. (Interestingly, Arakan Division was originally a part of British India.) 

Coming back to Bangkok, the Thai generals are evidently circling the wagons sensing the Time of Troubles ahead as the Five Eyes is creating a cauldron in Myanmar that can ensnare the neighbouring regions. Bangkok, a western ally previously, is traditionally a hotbed of western intelligence — Five Eyes — and the authorities are well aware of the resentment in the US that their ties with Beijing have expanded and deepened and assumed a strategic character in the recent years. 

The unkindest cut of all is that Thailand (along with Malaysia) has formally applied for membership of the BRICS, which carries huge resonance in the geopolitics of  southeast Asia and the ASEAN and impacts the regional balance at a juncture when the US is striving to create an anti-China bloc. 

Thailand is a keen participant in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. From a long term perspective, the 873-km high-speed rail project connecting Bangkok with Kunming, capital of China’s Yunnan province, via Laos is expected to be operational latest by 2028. 

The railway project, estimated to cost anywhere up to $10 billion will not only enhance regional connectivity but profoundly reset the economic geography of Asia, given its massive potential for accelerating the increased integration between China and the ASEAN countries. People would be able to travel between Kunming and Bangkok by train for about $100, which is half to a third of the cost of an airline ticket. According to Xinhua, the railway is expected to bring two million more Chinese tourists to Thailand every year.

Washington is livid that its proxy, Move Forward led by a young man educated in the US and groomed to spearhead a colour revolution, has been banned. The Thai authorities understand that the western intention is to break up the ancient crust of their country’s polity, which is the only way to make inroads into what is otherwise a deeply Buddhist culture — specifically, to demolish the so-called lèse-majesté law protecting the institution of monarchy, an institution that dates back more than 700 years and is a pillar of stability in the country symbolising the unity of the Thai communities. By the way, Christian missionary work is active in both Thailand and Myanmar — as in next-door north-eastern region of India. And the evangelicals are an influential pressure group in the US politics. 

The Thai authorities have shied away from confronting the US. Thai culture values serenity and avoids conflict and displays of anger. Even disagreements are to be handled with a smile, without assigning blame. Hence the circuitous route to squash Move Forward on legal grounds. 

Move Forward won 151 seats in the 500 member parliament in the elections in May last year where sixty-seven parties contested, but was unable to form a coalition government after being functionally blocked by allies of the monarchy and military. Move Forward made the electoral pledge to abolish lèse-majesté law (which is tantamount to a crime.) 

The US and its allies are furious but cannot do anything about the development. All the good work to stage a colour revolution in phases has come to naught. The exasperation shows in the statements from Washington and Canberra. (here and here) 

However, all is not lost. The regime change in Bangladesh may open a new pathway for the western intervention in Myanmar. India and Thailand refused to back the western-backed rebels fighting the Myanmar military. Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also stayed away from the power struggle in Myanmar. But that may change. 

The Rohingya issue provides an alibi. The ascendance of Pakistani intelligence and the larger-than life role of the Jamaat-i-Islami will trigger an assertion of Bangladesh’s Muslim identity. The Pakistani army chief lost no time to underscore that the developments in Bangladesh underscore the raison d’être of the two-nation theory!

So, the regime change in Bangladesh may turn out to be a game changer for the West’s regime change agenda in Myanmar. On the other hand, at the secondary and tertiary level, any strengthening of the western-backed rebel alliance in Myanmar cannot but cast shadows on India’s northeast, which has a large Christian population with tribal affinities across the border. 

An awareness is lacking that any weakening of Thailand’s state structure or the dissipation of Thai culture rooted in Buddhist traditions will isolate India in the region’s civilisational tapestry. Indians tend to take an episodic view of current events in their immediate neighbourhood.

Prior to the rise of Theravada Buddhism, both Indian Brahminical religion and Mahayana Buddhism were present in Thailand, and influences from both these traditions can still be seen in present-day Thai folklore. A colour revolution in Thailand leading to western dominance and the eclipse of the Thai monarchy and Buddhist cosmology would have profound implications for South Asia. 

August 9, 2024 Posted by | Economics | , , , , | Leave a comment

Largest UK pension fund divests from Israeli assets worth over $100mn: Report

Press TV – August 9, 2024

Britain’s largest private pension fund has reportedly sold off £80 million ($101 million) in assets linked to Israel as pressure mounts on its members to divest from the occupying regime over its genocidal aggression against the Gaza Strip.

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) had “materially” reduced its exposure to Israeli investments in the past six months.

USS started selling down the bond and currency portfolio in March, the report said, citing two people with knowledge of the matter.

“This marks yet another instance in recent months of institutions divesting from Israel’s genocidal regime and complicit companies,” the pro-Palestine Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement said.

It also renewed its call for pressure on institutions to “divest from Israel’s sinking economy. Investing in it is not only unethical and illegal. It’s now also reckless.”

USS manages investments totalling £79 ($100 billion) and has more than 500,000 members, who are largely higher education sector workers, including lecturers at universities such as Oxford and Cambridge.

Back in May, the University and College Union (UCU) criticized the USS’s “shameful” refusal to review investments in companies linked to Israel’s crimes in Gaza and urged the pension fund to reconsider its position.

Calls have grown worldwide for divestment from Israeli interests since October 7, 2023, when the usurping regime waged its brutal Gaza onslaught.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 39,699 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 91,722 others.

August 9, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , | Leave a comment

US Military Exports Skyrocketing as Washington Continues to Fuel Global Conflicts

By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 09.08.2024

The US’ arms exports have risen dramatically since 2022 and may top $100 billion by the year’s end, according to the Pentagon.

In fiscal year (FY) 2022, sales through the US government’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system jumped to $49.7 billion from $34.8 billion in FY2021; in FY2023, this number rose again to around $66.2 billion.

So far, FMS sales are already above $80 billion for FY2024, as per the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

Still, the total value of transferred weapons, services and security cooperation activities conducted under the Foreign Military Sales system in FY2023 was $80.9 billion, representing a 55.9% increase from a total of $51.9 billion in FY2022.

In 2024, the US State Department unveiled government-to-government FMS sales for FY2023, which required congressional notification:
Poland:

  • AH-64E Apache Helicopters – $12 billion;
  • High mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) – $10 billion;
  • Integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) battle command systems (IBCS) – $4 billion;
  • M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks – $3.75 billion.

Germany:

  • CH-47F Chinook helicopters – $8.5 billion;
  • AIM-120C-8 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAM) – $2.9 billion.

Norway:

  • Defense articles and services related to the MH-60R multi-mission helicopters – $1 billion.

Czech Republic:

  • F-35 aircraft and munitions – $5.62 billion.

Bulgaria:

  • Stryker vehicles – $1.5 billion.

Australia:

  • C-130J-30 aircraft – $6.35 billion.

Canada:

  • P-8A aircraft – $5.9 billion.

South Korea:

  • F-35 aircraft – $5.06 billion;
  • CH-47F Chinook helicopters – $1.5 billion.

Japan:

  • E-2D advanced Hawkeye (AHE) airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft – $1.381 billion.

Kuwait:

  • National advanced surface-to-air missile system (NASAMS) medium range air defense systems (MRADS) – $3 billion;
  • Follow-up technical support – $1.8 billion.

Qatar:

  • Fixed site-low, slow, small unmanned aircraft system integrated defeat system (FS-LIDS) – $1 billion.

In addition to that, direct commercial sales (DCS) between foreign nations and US defense contractors jumped from $153.6 billion in FY2022 to $157.5 billion for FY2023. These sales included unspecified military hardware, services and technical data.

The US State Department provided a glimpse on what major DCS Congressional Notifications included in FY2023:

  • Italy – For the manufacturing of F-35 wing assemblies and sub-assemblies – $2.8 billion;
  • India – For the manufacturing of GE F414-INS6 engine hardware – $1.8 billion;
  • Singapore – F100 propulsion system and spare parts – $1.2 billion;
  • South Korea – F100 propulsion system and spare parts – $1.2 billion;
  • Norway, Ukraine – National advanced surface to air missile systems (NASAMS) – $1.2 billion;
  • Saudi Arabia – Patriot guided missile – $1 billion.

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) highlights that arms exports by the US rose by 17% between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The US share of total global arms exports increased from 34% to 42%. Between 2019 and 2023, the US delivered major arms to 107 states, which was more than the next two biggest exporters combined, as per SIPRI.

The largest share of US arms went to the Middle East (38%), mostly to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Israel.

US arms exports to states in Asia and Oceania increased by 14% between 2014–18 and 2019–23; 31% of all US arms exports in 2019–23 went to the region with Japan, South Korea and Australia being the largest buyers.

Europe purchased a total of 28% of US arms exports in 2019–23. US arms exports to the region increased by over 200% between the 2014–18 and 2019–23 periods. Ukraine accounted for 4.7% of all US arms exports and 17% of those to Europe.

The institute projects that the US will continue to ramp up military sales in 2024 and beyond, with the focus on combat aircraft, tanks and other armored vehicles, artillery, SAM systems and warships.

August 9, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The European Union wants to break Hungary’s will

By Dénes Albert | Remix News | August 5, 2024

Let us not delude ourselves for a moment, because the European Commission’s failure to stand by our country in blocking the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine is just one of the “pieces” of a plan to overthrow the legitimately elected Hungarian government.

The other retaliatory measures taken by Brussels against our country have the same purpose. This is not a new EU idea, supported by Washington.

Charles Gati, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, and not least a member of the advisory board of Action for Democracy, has spoken about this before. It was this organization that was suspected of attempting to interfere in the 2022 Hungarian elections, which Hungarian intelligence services deemed a national security risk. More than a decade ago, Gati said that “there are ways to move the government, democratically if possible, and otherwise if not.” Add to this that Gati is a confidant of the Soros empire.

Gati, in another statement to the Hungarian press, has already fleshed out the idea in five points, including that “in the absence of IMF and EU loans, the economy will continue to deteriorate while hundreds of thousands of people protest in the streets.” Then comes a discussion of the options, which reach the conclusion of civil war.

The plan has not worked. It could be said that those who masterminded the overthrow of the government have completely failed, since a dozen years were not enough to remove the right-wing conservative government in Hungary. However, they are doggedly sticking to the original idea.

The retaliatory measures that Brussels is taking against our country are out of all proportion. Most recently, for example, it imposed a fine of €200 million on us for not letting in illegal migrants.

Despite our country’s arguments that the EU sanctions on Russia do not apply to oil entering the bloc by pipeline, we have finally reached the point where the EC has abandoned the possibility of negotiation. It did not stand by Hungary and Slovakia, both of which protested Ukraine’s decision to unilaterally turn off the tap.

So, the oil transit issue is a tool for the EU, and of course for Ukraine, to use blackmail to force Hungary to change its policy towards the war.

The Eurocrats in Brussels “elegantly” overlooked the fact that it had already been made clear it was technically impossible to build an alternative oil supply for Hungary and Slovakia. “I don’t think the commission would be keen to help Hungary,” said a diplomat, who of course requested anonymity.

August 6, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

Orban’s Insight Into The Global Systemic Transition & Hungarian Grand Strategy Is Worth Reading

By Andrew Korybko | August 2, 2024

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban elaborated on the global systemic transition and his country’s grand strategy within it during a lengthy speech at the Balvanyos Free Summer University and Student Camp over the weekend. The over 11,000-word English transcript was published on Monday, which the present piece will summarize for the reader’s convenience. It began with him reaffirming that it’s his Christian duty to promote peace and mocking the EU for its Orwellian “war is peace” mantra.

He then said that the Ukrainian Conflict was a “red pill” for him and proceeded to elaborate on the ten ways in which it opened his eyes to reality. First, there have been enormous casualties on both sides, but each will continue fighting unless external stakeholders diplomatically intervene since they’re convinced that they’ll win. Second, the US went from containing China to waging a proxy war on Russia, which pushed those two together and prompted questions about why the US would do this.

Third, Ukraine’s resilience in spite of its objective economic and demographic weaknesses can be explained by its sense of mission that fills it with a higher purpose, which is to become the West’s eastern military frontier. Fourth, Russia has also proven itself to be impressively resilient, and it’s nowhere near collapsing like Western leaders hubristically predicted. Fifth, the EU has undergone fundamental changes since the latest phase of the Ukrainian Conflict began two and half years ago.

It now follows the US Democrats’ lead instead of retaining its strategic autonomy, and the traditional Franco-German axis is now challenged like never before by Poland, which has allied with the UK, Ukraine, the Baltic States, and Scandinavia to create a new center of power in Europe. This is actually an old Polish plan (Pilsudski’s “Intermarium” from the interwar period) adapted to contemporary conditions brought about by the Ukrainian Conflict and fully assisted by the US.

Sixth, the West’s standards are no longer universal and it’s experiencing “spiritual solitude” after the entire non-West refused to follow its lead in isolating Russia. Seventh, the biggest problem in the world is the weakness and disintegration of the West caused by its lack of leadership and seemingly irrational policies, which is accelerating China’s rise as its global systemic challenger. Eighth, Western Europe’s worldview is now post-national while Central Europe still believes in the sanctity of the nation-state.

This dichotomy explains the West’s seemingly irrational policies since each half of Europe is operating according to a completely different philosophy. The US is also experiencing a similar division between those like Trump who want it to remain a nation-state and his opponents who want it to become a post-national state. According to Orban, this division owes its origins to the sexual revolution and student rebellions from over half a century ago, which sought to free people from any form of collective identity.

Ninth, the West’s post-national trends are convulsing democracy and leading to friction between the elite/elitism and the people/populism. And finally, the tenth red pill is that Western soft power/values aren’t universal but are actually counterproductive since Russia’s strongest international attraction nowadays is its resistance to LGBTQ. Orban then said that these trends are leading to the rise of the non-West, which he believes first began with China’s admission to the WTO in 2001 and might be irreversible.

Trump’s priority is to rebuild and strengthen North America, to which end he’ll squeeze the US’ European and Asian allies while negotiating better deals with China. His end game is to make the US self-sufficient in energy and raw materials so that it can stand a better chance at retaining its declining position in global affairs. The EU has two options: it can either become an “open-air museum” (passive international actor) absorbed by the US or pursue strategic autonomy in order improve its standing in the world.

What’s needed is more connectivity, a European military alliance with its own defense industry (albeit without federalization), energy self-sufficiency, reconciliation with Russia, and admitting that Ukraine won’t join the EU or NATO. It’ll return to its prior role as a buffer zone and will be lucky if it gets security guarantees in a US-Russian agreement. Poland’s power play will fail because it lacks the resources to replace Germany so Orban expects that his “Polish brothers and sisters” will return to Central Europe.

He also considers all of these changes to be an opportunity. Developments in the US favor Hungary, but it must be careful about any deals it might offer due to the Polish precedent. Warsaw bet everything on Washington and received support for its strategic goals, but now it’s “subject to the imposition of a policy of democracy export, LGBTQ, migration and internal social transformation.” Orban ominously notes that this combination risks of the loss of Polish national identity if these trends continue unabated.

Hungary will remain in the EU, but the bloc’s East-West divisions between those that correspondingly respect the nation-state and those that are moving beyond it will widen. The EU must also accept that it’s the loser in the Ukrainian Conflict, the US will abandon this proxy war, and the EU can’t realistically pick up the tab. All the while, Hungary will rely on China for modernizing its economy and boosting its exports, which will lead to mutually beneficial outcomes.

A Hungarian grand strategy is required in order to maximally take advantage of the opportunities brought about by the ten previously described red pills and their abovementioned consequences. What’s already been decided upon since his government began work on this after the 2022 elections isn’t yet digestible and widely comprehensible by the public, and he said that it’ll take around six months for everything to become clearer for them, but he still shared the gist of what this grand strategy entails.

The first part is what he describes as connectivity, which he explained as being plugged in to both the Eastern and Western halves of the global economy. The second is sovereignty, with a focus on the economic dimension by promoting national companies on the world market, reducing debt, becoming a regional creditor, and boosting domestic production. The final part is bolstering his society’s resilience by halting demographic decline, preserving villages, and maintaining Hungary’s distinct culture.

Orban ended by explaining that all Hungarians across the world must help advance this grand strategy. The global systemic transition is expected to last another 20-25 years so the next generation will be tasked with completing its implementation. Their liberal opponents will try to offset this, but such efforts can be counteracted by recruiting young nationalists to the cause. The impression that one gets after reading through his speech in full is that Orban is this generation’s most visionary European leader.

August 3, 2024 Posted by | Economics | , , , , | Leave a comment

Russia Ranks Among G20’s Lowest in National Debt Per Capita

Sputnik – August 3, 2024

This year, Russia has entered the top three largest economies in the world with the lowest level of national debt per capita, according to an analysis by Sputnik of the latest data from G20 countries. On average, government debt among those countries is $23,600 per citizen. Only six countries exceed that mark.

New data shows Russia has one of the lowest per-capita debt levels of the G20 group of nations.

India has the most modest sovereign debt, with the latest data from the G20 showing $1,316 per person. Indonesia follows with $1,747 and Russia is third with $2,076 per capita at the end of the first half of this year.

Other countries with national debts less than $5,000 per person include Turkiye ($2,800), China ($3,000) and South Africa ($4,500).

Countries with debts ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 include Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Argentina.

South Korea’s national debt is almost twice that of Argentina, at $16,000 per capita, Germany’s is $20,900 and Australia’s is $21,200 per capita.

The six countries with above-average national debts are all members of the Group of Seven (G7).

Of those, Canada has the lowest debt at $25,300 per capita. France’s debt stands at $40,300 per citizen, while the UK and Italy have accumulated debts twice as large as Canada’s at $51,600 and $51,900 per person. Japan has the second-largest national debt at $70,400 per capita.

The United States continues to have the highest sovereign debt, at $104,500 per capita — 80 times higher than India’s and 50 times higher than Russia’s. Among all countries in the world, only Singapore has a higher debt figure at $149,300 per person.

August 3, 2024 Posted by | Economics | , , | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »