China essentially says that October 7th Was An Exercise of International Law
China’s representative points out at the ICJ that armed resistance against occupation is enshrined in international law and is not terrorism.
Israel’s Economic Strains from Turkish Trade Ban
Sectors across the Israeli economy are warning of wide-reaching impacts of Turkey’s decision to halt all trade with Israel, and are scrambling to find alternative sources for lost imports.
The Turkish trade ministry announced earlier this week that Ankara is halting all import and export transactions related to Israel until it “allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.” The ban on imports includes iron and steel products, construction materials, minerals, machinery, cars, energy products, rubber, plastics, health and agricultural products.
The construction industry is bracing for the loss of Turkish iron and steel products and building materials, as Turkey supplied 29 percent of Israel’s total cement imports last year.
Construction work on the settlement of Tzofim, east of the Palestinian West Bank village of Qalqilya, on 2 January 2024 (AFP)
Last month, Israeli businessmen warned that the restrictions could drive an increase in property and rent prices. Meanwhile, Israel’s largest oil refinery, Bezan, said the ban could impact crude oil imports.
Forty percent of Israel’s annual oil consumption is piped to the Turkish oil hub port of Ceyhan and then shipped to Israel.
Moreover, representatives of the electrical products industry are warning that the ban could lead to a 35 percent hike in prices, as the majority of domestic electrical goods in Israel are manufactured in Turkey.
The new restrictions could force importers to import across the Red Sea, where attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group have driven a spike in shipping costs.
‘Dire straits’
In April, the contractors’ association wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of driving the sector to the brink of collapse.
Amit Gottlieb, chairman of the Urban Renewal Committee in the Israel Builders’ Association (ACB), said the Israeli construction industry was already in “dire straits” since Israel’s war on Gaza began, due to labor shortages resulting from Israel’s ban on Palestinian workers.
He added that alternative imports of construction materials from Germany, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Greece needed to be arranged “as soon as possible”.
Turkey’s exports to Israel were worth $5.4bn in 2023, or 2.1 percent of its total exports, according to official data. From 2009 to 2023, trade between the two countries nearly tripled. By the end of that period, Turkey had become the fifth-largest supplier of goods imported by Israel, while Israel ranked as Turkey’s 10th-largest export market, based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
On Thursday, Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, accused Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of ignoring international trade agreements and acting like a “dictator”. He added that Israel would seek to replace the lost Turkish imports with locally produced goods or imports from other countries.
Why Does the US Gov. Borrow Money?
IMPORTANT QUESTION: “Why does the government borrow the money that it prints?”
Jared Bernstein, Chair of Council of Economic Advisers to Joe Biden: “I don’t get it”
➡️ Thought so, they don’t get it … LMAO
Fact. By law, the US Treasury cannot issue dollars, it can only mint coins. When the Federal Reserve (which is a consortium of private banks) wants to create money and put it into the system, it does so through banks lending money to the government. Treasury bonds are IOUs that the government issues in exchange for a loan. You, or the bank, buy a bond with cash today and the government promises to pay you back with interest in the future.
Banks like to hold treasury bonds because they’re viewed as low risk—it’s unlikely the US government will default on debt (any time soon at least). Treasury bonds also have the advantage that they’re relatively easy to sell to someone else to get cash. Economists call this ease of converting an asset into money liquidity.
When the Federal Reserve buys bonds, they have an advantage you and I don’t. They are allowed to print new money (in fact only FED is allowed to print dollars) to buy the bonds. It’s more likely that the money will be digitally created than literally printed, but the form of the money doesn’t make a difference.
Now, it is common to hear people say the Fed prints money.
That’s not technically correct. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing, an agency of the U.S. Treasury, does the printing. The Fed, for its part, purchases cash (dollars) from the bureau at cost (which is pennies to the dollar) and then puts it in circulation.
A debt based monetary system is when money creation is issued as debt from commercial banks (primarily). The more money is created the more debt for the government.
Stigmatizing with the word “anti-semite” …
BlackRock CEO: Depopulation is Good
BlackRock CEO: Depopulation is good because robots will replace humans
“I can argue that in developed countries, countries with declining populations will benefit,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said during a recent World Economic Forum panel discussion.
BlackRock CEO: Depopulation is good because robots will replace humans
“I can argue that in developed countries, countries with declining populations will benefit,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said during a recent World Economic Forum panel discussion.
“These countries will rapidly develop robotics and AI and technology. And if the promise of all of that transforms productivity, which most of us think it will, we’ll be able to elevate the standard of living of those countries and individuals, even with shrinking populations. And so the paradigm of negative population growth is going to be changing, and the social problems that one will have in substituting humans for machines is going to be far easier in those countries that have declining populations.”
via SputnikInt
Trump Won’t Rule out Withholding Military Aid to Israel
via RT
Former US President Donald Trump has refused to rule out withholding military aid to Israel to force an end to the war in Gaza if he is reelected. Once a stalwart defender of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump has argued that the Israeli leader and his military have bungled the war with Hamas.
In an interview with Time magazine published on Tuesday, Trump stood by his insistence last month that Israel should “finish up [its] war” before it loses any more international support.
“I think that Israel has done one thing very badly: public relations,” Trump told the outlet, adding that he thinks the Israeli military shouldn’t “be sending out pictures every night of buildings falling down and being bombed.”
Asked whether he would rule out withholding or applying conditions to US military aid to Israel in order to bring the war to a conclusion, Trump replied “no,”before launching into a scathing critique of Netanyahu.
“I had a bad experience with Bibi,” he said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. Trump recalled how Netanyahu allegedly promised to take part in the US airstrike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in January 2020, before pulling out at the last minute.
“That was something I never forgot,” Trump told Time, adding that the incident “showed me something.”
Netanayhu, he said, “rightfully has been criticized for what took place on October 7,” referring to Hamas’ attack on Israel. “And I think it’s had a profound impact on him, despite everything. Because people said that shouldn’t have happened.
Israel has “the most sophisticated equipment,” he continued. “Everything was there to stop that. And a lot of people knew about it, you know, thousands and thousands of people knew about it, but Israel didn’t know about it, and I think he’s being blamed for that very strongly.”
Trump is not the first person to allege that the Israeli military and government failed to respond to warnings of an impending attack by Hamas. According to Israeli media reports, multiple military and intelligence personnel tried to warn their superiors that an attack was in the works, while Egyptian officials told the Associated Press that they passed on warnings to their Israeli counterparts in the weeks leading up to October 7.
Trump was a close ally of Netanyahu during his term in the White House, and described himself as “history’s most pro-Israel US president.” He imposed sanctions on Iran at Netanyahu’s request, moved the US embassy in Israel to West Jerusalem, and brokered the Abraham Accords, which saw Israel normalize relations with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan.
Asked whether he could work better with Netanyahu’s main political rival, Benny Gantz, if he were to return to the White House after the November presidential election, Trump did not give a straight answer. However, he remarked that “Gantz is good,” and that there are “some very good people I’ve gotten to know in Israel that could do a good job.”
Pro-Zionists vs Pro-Palestinians?!
Trump vs Biden?! Is that Sovereigntists vs Globalists?!
How about Pro-Zionists vs Pro-Palestinians?!
Is there such a thing as the Axis of Trump-Netanyahu-Orban-Putin vs. Pro-Globalists?!
Then where does China fit into this? Maybe somewhere in-between. Where’s Ukraine? It is supported by Israel, but it is against Russia. Where is the EU? A mixed bag pro-Israel, pro-Palestinians, anti-Russia, pro-Russia…
Trump’s first appointed National Security Advisor is Gen. Michael Flynn, pictured at the same dinner table with Putin in Moscow. Collusion? No collusion? High level appointees in his administration, all staunchly pro-Israel: Nikki Haley, Bolton, Cohen, etc. Netanyahu, while visiting the US, sleeps in Trump’s son in law Kushner’s bedroom, that’s his “senior adviser’s” bedroom. Collusion? No collusion?
So we had four years of Trump and four years of anti-Trump’s denunciation of his collusion with Putin (Russia). Will we have another four years of Trump and four years of anti-Trump’s denunciation of his collusion with Netanyahu (Israel)?
The way things are going right now that’s quite possible.
Unipolar? Multipolar?
Ed. Note: Is the answer for our future a Unipolar World Order? A Multipolar World Order? Or better yet No World Order? A Unipolar World Order means Full Spectrum Domination by one power – no ifs, ands or buts. We all are enslaved to the one supreme leader. A Multipolar World Order means that some of us are enslaved by one power and some others are enslaved by another power. It results in a constant state of war, conflict, instability, insecurity for all the subordinates. A No World Order is a world in permanent disorder.
What is your choice?
Mexico President AMLO: “I don’t know if it’s CIA or DEA but I’m facing a vulgar and slanderous campaign… the US has no control: CIA has its policy, DEA has its policy, State Dept. has its policy, the White House has its policy, the Judiciary has its policy … and all we ask for them is to respect us.” https://twitter.com/upholdreality/status/1785070791283068970
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Is Moldova a new battleground in Russia’s war?
by Orysia Lutsevych and Valeriu Pasha via Chatham House
Since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, concern has grown that neighbouring Moldova would be next in Moscow’s bid to regain control over the former Soviet republics. Moldova’s pro-European leaders have long been aware of Russian efforts to destabilize their country. With two key polls in Moldova this year, those efforts are expected to intensify.
Fuelling that expectation is Transnistria, a region that broke away from Moldova around 30 years ago with Russia’s support. In February, pro-Russian separatist leaders of Transnistria issued an appeal to Moscow for protection. That echoed similar ‘appeals’ from inside Ukraine which set in motion the illegal Russian annexations of its territories: the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in 2022.
But just how vulnerable is Moldova to Russian encroachment? Is its home-grown resilience improving? What tactics is Moscow already deploying in the country and how are Moldova’s leaders countering these?
How vulnerable is Moldova to Russian interference?
Moldova is sandwiched between Ukraine to the east and Romania to the west. Along Moldova’s eastern edge runs the breakaway region of Transnistria. Moldova does not share a border with Russia.
Before 2014, Russia could access Transnistria by transiting Ukraine or via Moldova’s port on the River Danube. But these routes are now closed, and Chisinau has introduced tough checks on Russian military personnel moving through the capital’s airport.
Previous revisionist speeches from the Russian president, the Kremlin’s actions and official doctrines all suggest that Russia sees Moldova as ‘a historical Russian territory’
Later in 2024, Moldova is due to hold presidential elections and a referendum about its future membership of the European Union.
Both are opportunities for Moscow to strengthen its influence over the country and to subvert Moldova’s possible integration into the EU. In perhaps another parallel to Ukraine, the EU decided to open accession negotiations with Moldova in December 2023.
Although Vladimir Putin did not refer to Transnistria in his 29 February address, previous revisionist speeches from the Russian president, the Kremlin’s actions and official doctrines all suggest that Russia sees Moldova as ‘a historical Russian territory’.
This reflects Putin’s neo-imperial ambitions to restore control over former Soviet republics and push the European and US presence out of eastern Europe.
Ousting the pro-European Moldovan president Maya Sandu in favour of the pro-Russian opposition is an active part of that strategy, according to authorities in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital. Election interference is among the areas where Moldova is vulnerable to Russian malign influence.
Research by Chatham House suggests that Moscow is also targeting the Moldovan public information space with toxic disinformation and is seeking ways to undermine the country’s social cohesion.
Moldova was chosen as a focus country to test a new methodology – the Resilience Barometer – devised by Chatham House for measuring societies’ resilience to Russian malign influence. Initial results from a survey of experts for the barometer suggest that Moldova has strong societal support for democracy, but weaker support for EU integration and other alliances.
Another major vulnerability is Moldova’s governance and attempts to tackle corruption, confirmed by low scores in the Resilience Barometer for limiting the influence of kleptocratic groups on state institutions.
These weaknesses could be actively exploited by Russia in the coming months, in the run-up to the referendum on joining the EU and the presidential elections due in October.
How does Russia destabilize Moldova?
With the Russian army bogged down in Ukraine and its failed offensive on Odesa, Moscow is dialling up its non-military methods – also known as ‘hybrid’ measures – to exert more pressure on Moldova. These can include, among others: economic pressure, information operations, cyberattacks, internal destabilization, election interference, corruption and use of proxy groups.
In Moldova, several of these measures are being deployed – notably during the 2023 local elections. Those elections were a prime target for Russian interference.
The head of Moldova’s Information and Security Service said that in 2023 alone, Russia illegally channelled more than $55 million, or almost 0.4 per cent of Moldova’s nominal GDP, into influencing elections and buying votes in the country.
Moldova’s national security service has accused fugitive pro-Russian oligarchs – such as Ilan Shor who was convicted in absentia on fraud charges– of paying millions in euros to stage anti-government protests and commit election fraud.
The 2023 local elections highlighted Moldova’s inability to block such interference backed by corrupt oligarchs. Moldovan prosecutors have initiated several criminal cases against the illegal financing of political activities, but the trial process is slow and public trust in the judiciary is low.
Some judges and prosecutors remain loyal to the former leader of the Democratic Party, Vladimir Plahotniuc. He is sanctioned by the US Treasury, which says he retains control over the country’s law enforcement apparatus to target political and business rivals.
Online disinformation is also used by Russian-backed entities to destabilize the country, particularly its democratic processes, according to Moldovan authorities. The operation to undermine the local elections was in part controlled by the 161 Intelligence Training Centre of the Russian Military Intelligence (GRU). Moscow can channel influence through a cohort of openly pro-Russian parties: the Socialists, the Communists, and Ilan Shor’s Renaissance party. It may also be helped by a few alleged ‘Trojan horses’ – prominent individuals who claim support for the EU, but refuse to denounce Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and who push Russian narratives.
It is notable that Yuriy Gudilin, a former officer with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and now an election aid to the mayor of Chisinau, is sanctioned by the US Treasury for attempts to interfere in the 2020 national elections on Russia’s behalf.
An upcoming celebration on World War II Victory Day on 9 May could be a focal point for mass demonstrations against Sandu.
Looking ahead to the next national elections, the Russian-speaking autonomous region of Gagauzia could play an important role, given previous attempts there to stage provocation and stoke separatist sentiments by hosting illegal referendums.
An upcoming celebration on World War II Victory Day on 9 May could be a focal point for mass demonstrations against Sandu.
With this in mind, a meeting on 7 March between the current governor of Gaugazia, Yevgenia Gutsul, and Sergei Kiriyenko, Deputy Chief of Staff of Putin’s administration, is a worrying sign.
Internal Kremlin documents, reviewed by the Washington Post, show that Kiriyenko was responsible for running subversive activities both inside Ukraine and abroad to undermine Western support for Kyiv’s war effort.
How is Moldova boosting its national resilience?
The next few months will be a critical test for Moldova’s internal resilience to Russian aggressive encroachment. The country is working actively to counter Russian influence in several ways, although some gaps remain.
Just over three-quarters (76 per cent) of the experts surveyed for the Chatham House Resilience Barometer agree that Moldova is becoming more resilient to Russian interference. Under Prime Minister Dorin Recean, the government is focusing on increasing societal and institutional resilience against Russian interference.
The new National Security Strategy, for the first time since independence, acknowledges Russia as an existential threat to national security. While this has been obvious since the Russia-orchestrated secessionist war in 1992, no Moldovan leader has dared to state this openly. The new strategy prioritises building societal resilience, strengthening the national army and the civil security sector, and combating Russia’s malign interference in domestic politics.
Another decisive step was to create a new institution responsible for strategic communication and combating disinformation. Its new director, Anna Revenco, a former minister of interior, has pledged to apply a ‘whole of society approach’ to resilience. In parallel, resolute efforts are being made to reduce Moldova’s energy dependence on Russia.
President Sandu has tried to address the lack of public faith in the judiciary’s independence, announcing the of a new court to try major corruption cases. She maintains that some judges have allowed the illegal financing of Russia’s actions in Moldova to continue. The pro-Russian Socialist Party of Moldova (PSRM) alleges that Sandu and her party are themselves attempting to influence the judicial system.
An active group of non-profit organizations and independent media is fighting Russian disinformation but their efforts may be futile if not curbed at the source.
While Moldova is gradually building a strategic vision of how to get rid of Russia’s toxic influence, these solutions will only pay off in the long term. Substantial gaps remain, especially in providing for human security, delivering accountable governance and strengthening social cohesion, as the Resilience Barometer research found.
The country is not helped by an apparent lack of interest among tech giants to limit disinformation on their platforms, including paid electoral ads in Moldova. An active group of non-profit organizations and independent media is fighting Russian disinformation but their efforts may be futile if not curbed at the source.
How could external actors help Moldova in strengthening its resilience?
Whether Transnistria’s appeal to Russia becomes an event that will set in motion a wider destabilizing chain reaction will depend on how effectively the Moldovan government and its partners can counter the Russian efforts.
NHS: Sex Is a Biological Fact! – Nature vs Nurture
via The Telegraph
Britain’s NHS Declares Sex is Biological Fact in Landmark Shift Against ‘Gender Ideology’
Changes to the health service’s written constitution proposed by ministers will for the first time ban trans women from female-only wards.
Campaigners for women’s rights welcomed the significant shift to the constitution, which follows accusations that the health service had been captured by woke “gender ideology.”
The move was a “return to common sense and an overdue recognition that women’s wellbeing and safety matter,” women’s rights campaigners added.
US Global Digital Dictatorship?
The United States is seeking to establish global dictatorship in the digital sphere, said Dmitry Polyanskiy, First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, at a meeting of the UN General Assembly’s Information Committee.
According to him, conditions are being created for total control over the digital space with the possibility of “disconnecting” any information alternative to the Western mainstream.