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Macron was in Moscow in talks with Putin, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in Washington meeting with Biden on Monday. Despite Germany lately coming under heavy criticism from the more hawkish corners of the NATO alliance for its less than muscular response to the Ukraine crisis, Biden told reporters while welcoming Scholz that they are “in lockstep” on “confronting Russian aggression” at Ukraine’s border.

Going into the meeting, admin officials said the two leaders would spend time talking about a “robust sanctions package” aimed at Moscow in the event of a military offensive. However, Scholz has not indicated willingness to go along with any level of punitive economic measures, given also Germany’s close trade and energy ties with Russia, not the least of which still looms large in the background is Nord Stream 2.

On this matter, the White House indicated Biden is pressing the German Chancellor on putting in place plans to halt cooperation with Russia on Nord Stream 2 if Ukraine is invaded. But given the pipeline is now complete, and ready to start pumping gas while merely awaiting final German regulatory approval, it’s hard to see how amenable Berlin will in the end be to this option.

CNN described, “Looming over the meeting, however, is the question of Scholz’s resolve to confront Putin. Among the United States’ major European allies, Germany has appeared the most reluctant to commit to lethal aid, sending thousands of helmets instead of weapons and refusing to allow another NATO ally, Estonia, to send German-made howitzers to Ukraine.”

Germany remains among leading European countries which has refused to bolster its forces along NATO’s ‘eastern flank’ – and has gone so far as to ban its weapons from being shipped Ukrainian forces.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Oil Spikes On White House Report Russia Planning False Flag Against Ukraine Using ‘Graphic Video’, Crisis Actors

February 3, 2022

Oil Spikes On White House Report Russia Planning False Flag Against Ukraine Using ‘Graphic Video’, Crisis Actors

The Washington Post is reporting Thursday bizarre and sensational claims by US intelligence saying that Russia planned to stage a false flag to justify a massive invasion of Ukraine. Specifically Russian intelligence is being accused of producing a fake video showing a Ukrainian Bayraktar TB-2 drone attacking pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s eastern regions, which was to “fabricate a pretext for an invasion.”

Oil surged as the bombshell claims against Moscow quickly grabbed world headlines, emerging as the NY Times and CNN top story by early afternoon.

Here are the details an unnamed senior Biden admin official told CNN:

A senior administration official told CNN that the US has intelligence suggesting that the Russian government, with the help of Russia’s intelligence services, has been planning to produce a propaganda video depicting graphic scenes of a “staged false explosion with corpses, actors depicting mourners, and images of destroyed locations and military equipment,” the official said. The US believes Russia has already recruited actors to be involved in the fake attack.

“This video, if released, could provide Putin the spark he needs to initiate and justify military operations against Ukraine,” the official added. It follows claims last month that Russia could be plotting false flag attacks against its own proxies in Donbas.

Interestingly, The Washington Post – which was the first to report the story – alongside other like CNN has introduced some level of doubt within their own reporting…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

What Has Been Asserted Without Evidence May Be Dismissed Without Evidence

February 2, 2022

What Has Been Asserted Without Evidence May Be Dismissed Without Evidence

Listen to a reading of this article:

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We’re being bashed in the face with western propaganda about the Ukraine situation with increasing forcefulness. Every day now we’re seeing things like “analysts” claiming Putin definitely wants a large-scale war, very familiar-looking puff pieces about Ukrainian guerrilla freedom fighters based on claims by anonymous intelligence sources, think pieces on why Americans should all care about Ukrainian freedom from Kremlin tyranny, and, of course, a lot of entirely unsubstantiated assertions about what Russia is doing.

Despite the British government’s evidence-free claim that Russia was planning to install a puppet regime in Ukraine being debunked within hours and then shown to be a US intelligence claim dishonestly packaged as a British one days later, mass media outlets still to this day repeat the allegation like it’s a real thing. Despite the entirely unevidenced US government claim that Russia was plotting to stage a false flag attack in eastern Ukraine failing to prove true in subsequent weeks, US Senator Bob Menendez went on CNN over the weekend and declared that this false flag which never actually, physically happened was grounds to sanction Russia effective immediately.

The US political/media class is just saying whatever it wants about what Russia is doing and planning to do with no regard for facts or evidence. Nothing is too cartoonishly hysterical; in fact the more clickbaity and attention-grabbing the better. They feel free to scattergun these outlandish claims willy nilly all over our information ecosystem because five years of Russia hysteria have taught them that they will suffer exactly zero professional consequences when they are proven wrong, and that they will in fact see their stars rise as a reward for advancing the interests of the US empire.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Globalist Reset Agenda Has Failed – Is Ukraine Plan B?

January 31, 2022

The Globalist Reset Agenda Has Failed – Is Ukraine Plan B?

There are people in the liberty movement that attribute FAR too much intelligence to the global power elites, to the point that they seem to think the globalists are always planning “ten steps ahead.” The funny thing about planning ten steps ahead though is that if anything goes wrong with steps 1-9 then getting to step number 10 will be impossible and you just wasted a whole lot of energy on an elaborate plan that ended up going nowhere. The globalists are NOT the smartest people around; not even close. They aren’t even all that effective when their plans actually function and there are no surprises. Their ideas fail constantly.

There is only one reason that centralizing criminals have not been brought down, and that is because no one has ever targeted them directly. Every time there is a governmental shake up or rebellion or mass movement for change people target “the system”; they blame the system for all our problems (or they blame a handful of political puppets) and they seek to add a fresh coat of paint or change some of its basic functions, but the men behind the curtain always end up back behind the curtain. The problem is never “the system”, it’s the people running and influencing the system while enjoying the comfort of the shadows.

Here is how the globalists seem to operate the best that I can tell – They aim a fist full of darts at a board and throw as hard as they can and whatever sticks is what sticks. When a plan does stick, well the globalists appear to be brilliant, don’t they?…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Ukraine crisis, sponsored by US hegemony and war profiteers

January 27, 2022

The Ukraine crisis, sponsored by US hegemony and war profiteers

If Biden can interrupt NATO expansion and war profiteering, the US-Russia standoff over Ukraine can be resolved.

New US “lethal aid” for Ukraine, courtesy of US taxpayers and their weapons industry beneficiaries. (U.S. Embassy in Ukraine)

The US-Russia standoff over Ukraine has sparked bellicose threats and fears of Europe’s biggest ground war in decades. There are ample reasons to question the prospects of a Russian invasion, and US allies including France, Germany’s now-ousted navy chief, and even Kiev itself appear to share the skepticism.

Another potential scenario is that Russia draws on the Cuban Missile Crisis and positions offensive weapons within the borders of Latin American allies. Whatever the outcome, the crisis has underscored the perils of a second Cold War between the world’s top nuclear powers.

If the path forward is unpredictable, what got us here is easy to trace. The row over Ukraine is the outgrowth of an aggressive US posture toward Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago, driven by hegemonic policymakers and war profiteers in Washington. Understanding that background is key to resolving the current impasse, if the Biden administration can bring itself to alter a dangerous course.

US principles vs. power constraints

Russia’s central demands – binding guarantees to halt the eastward expansion of NATO, particularly in Ukraine, and to prevent offensive weapons from being stationed near its borders – have been publicly dismissed by the U.S government as non-starters.

In rejecting Russian concerns, the Biden administration claims that it is upholding “governing principles of international peace and security.” These principles, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says, “reject the right of one country to change the borders of another by force…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

CNN In Meltdown Mode Over Biden-Ukraine Phone Call Fiasco

January 27, 2022

CNN In Meltdown Mode Over Biden-Ukraine Phone Call Fiasco

Update (2023ET): CNN journos doing damage control after the network’s Natasha Bertrand panicked and deleted tweets containing harsh comments reportedly made by President Biden to Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky – namely that a Russian invasion was “imminent,” that the Capital city of Kyiv could be “sacked,” and to “prepare for impact.”

Now – none of that apparently happened according to CNN‘s Jim Sciutto, the White House, and apparently Ukraine itself. Of note, CNN claims their source was a “senior Ukrainian official.”

Human Events‘ Jack Posobiec lays it out:

Bertrand apparently didn’t get the message to CNN‘s Jake Tapper and Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance, who repeated the now-disputed report.

And the White House disputes:

Now, Posobiec reports that Zelensky’s office is also denying CNN’s report.

CNN‘s Alexander Marquardt gives a master class in walking back misinformation:

* * *

In their Thursday afternoon phone call which the White House called “a check-in”, it seems President Joe Biden took the opportunity to continue with an alarmist posture as he told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy that a Russian invasion is “now highly certain” – according to CNN.

Further, “President Biden reaffirmed the readiness of the United States along with its allies and partners to respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine,” according to the White House call readout. But it remains that two conflicting narratives have emerged, given just prior to the call it was being reported that Zelensky was expected to request that the US be more cautious in its messaging surrounding a potential Russian attack, per source–particularly the word “imminent,” as it risks causing panic and negative economic consequences for Ukraine. That was also according to CNN.

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The Three Types of US ‘Regime Change’

January 22, 2022

The Three Types of US ‘Regime Change’

When the U.S. overthrows a foreign government it either works from the top down, the bottom up, or through military invasion, writes Joe Lauria.

Chilean presidential palace during U.S.-backed coup, Sept. 11, 1973. (Library of the Chilean National Congress/Wikipedia)

Throughout the long, documented history of the United States illegally overthrowing governments of foreign lands to build a global empire there has emerged three ways Washington broadly carries out “regime change.”

From Above. If the targeted leader has been democratically elected and enjoys popular support, the C.I.A. has worked with elite groups, such as the military, to overthrow him (sometimes through assassination). Among several examples is the first C.I.A-backed coup d’état, on March 30, 1949, just 18 months after the agency’s founding, when Syrian Army Colonel Husni al-Za’im overthrew the elected president, Shukri al-Quwatli.

The C.I.A. in 1954 toppled the elected President Jacobo Árbenz of Guatemala, who was replaced with a military dictator. In 1961, just three days before the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, who favored his release, Congolese President Patrice Lumumba was assassinated with C.I.A. assistance, bringing military strongman Mobutu Sese Seko to power. In 1973, the U.S. backed Chilean General Augusto Pinochet to overthrow and kill the democratically-elected, socialist President Salvador Allende, setting up a military dictatorship, one of many U.S.-installed military dictatorships of that era in Latin America under Operation Condor.

From Below. If the targeted government faces genuine popular unrest, the U.S. will foment and organize it to topple the leader, elected or otherwise. 1958-59 anti-communist protests in Kerala, India, locally supported by the Congress Party and the Catholic Church, were funded by the C.I.A., leading to the removal of the elected communist government…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Germany Threatens To Halt Nord Stream 2 If Russia Attacks Ukraine

January 19, 2022

Germany Threatens To Halt Nord Stream 2 If Russia Attacks Ukraine

On Tuesday German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was asked directly in a press Q&A whether a Russian military offensive in Ukraine might lead to NATO military intervention on behalf of Kiev.

Scholz responded by underlining “serious” political and economic consequences, but appeared to rule out any assistance from Germany on the military front, saying there won’t be arms deliveries either. But importantly, he said that Berlin would mull halting the flow of natural gas from Russia.

“Germany may consider halting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russia attacks Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz signaled on Tuesday, as pressure grew on his government to take a more hawkish stance on the Kremlin,” Reuters reports of the statements made after he met with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

The ‘options on the table’ would include sanctioning the pipeline as well. Though amid already soaring energy prices in a frigid European winter, this ‘option’ would at the same time involve Germany shooting itself in the foot, if urgent supply needs can’t be met elsewhere.

“It is clear that there will be a high price to pay and that everything will have to be discussed should there be a military intervention in Ukraine,” Scholz said.

But the chancellor added: “We are not interested in long-term tensions, quite the contrary. But it is also important that everyone adheres to the principles that we have agreed on, and this means that Russia must adhere to the principles of the OSCE [the Organization for Security Co-Operation in Europe].”

He called for Russia to reduce its troop presence near Ukraine, while highlight that both Russia nad Germany desire to maintain “constructive and stable relations.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

US Scrambles For ‘Contingency Plans’ From Energy Firms On Gas Supply Crunch Amid Russia-Ukraine Crisis

January 18, 2022

US Scrambles For ‘Contingency Plans’ From Energy Firms On Gas Supply Crunch Amid Russia-Ukraine Crisis

It appears that both Washington and Kiev are still convinced that Russia is preparing a military offensive against Ukraine to happen at some point by the close of January. Despite Western estimates echoed over the past couple months that some 100,000 Russian troops are currently near the border, Moscow has been vehement in its denial that it’s planning any kind of invasion.

But Moscow is pointing the finger right back at NATO, with on Sunday Putin’s spokesman admitting Russian troops are on the border because it can no longer “tolerate” NATO’s own “gradual invasion” of Ukraine.

Sunday comments by Dmitry Peskov were firm in their denunciation of NATO’s continued expansion right up to Russia’s doorstep. “Unfortunately, not fixed in a juridical, in a legally binding guaranteeing document, but it — there was a guarantee that NATO would never… expand its military infrastructure or political infrastructure eastwards,” Peskov told CNN.

“Unfortunately, the opposite thing started to happen since then, and NATO’s military infrastructure started to get closer and closer to the borders of the Russian Federation,” he added. Russia now sees its national security as directly threatened and “endangered” – the Kremlin spokesman added.

Within the past days of ratcheting tit-for-tat accusations, it’s also been revealed that the Biden administration is seeking to reassure European partners of ‘contingency plans’ should a Ukraine-Russia conflict disrupt the transfer of energy supplies to the European Union. Russia is source fpr up to one-third of all of Europe’s critical gas supplies.

The Biden White House is still threatening severe sanctions, which also holds the potential for Russia using its energy supplies as a retaliatory weapon…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Russian ‘False Flag’ In Ukraine Story Emerged After CIA Director Secretly Visited Kiev

January 18, 2022

Russian ‘False Flag’ In Ukraine Story Emerged After CIA Director Secretly Visited Kiev

On Monday it came to light that last week’s whole false flag story which involved the US alleging that Russia is planning some kind of deceptive attack on its own forces or proxies in order to justify an incursion into Ukraine was fed straight to the CIA from Kiev intelligence officials.

CNN has now disclosed that the sensational charge against Moscow that it’s prepping “potential sabotage operations against their own forces” – as Bloomberg described it last Friday – was likely made known to CIA Director William Burns during a secretive January 12 visit to Kiev where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky and top officials.

As we described days ago, the allegation was dubious from the start as it was based on the usual “anonymous” and “unnamed” US intelligence officials.

During Burns’ now officially acknowledged trip, he and Ukraine’s intelligence leaders discussed “current assessments of risk to Ukraine” – and according to CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, and then US officials “disclosed the alleged Russian false flag plot soon after.”

Meanwhile, on Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov again blasted the US claims (and we might add, what appear to be the evidence-free allegations spun in Kiev), telling the US it’s peddling “total disinformation” with the false flag narrative.

Further, Lavrov reiterated “that Russia expects a written response this week from the U.S. and its allies to Moscow’s request for binding guarantees that NATO will not embrace Ukraine or any other ex-Soviet nations, or station its forces and weapons there,” the AP writes.

Reviewing the slew of reports and claims that have come out in just the last days, journalist Dave DeCamp writes:

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False Flags Suddenly No Longer A Crazy Conspiracy Theory

January 16, 2022

False Flags Suddenly No Longer A Crazy Conspiracy Theory

Listen to a reading of this article:

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In a drastic pivot from typical denunciations of false flag operations as conspiratorial nonsense that don’t exist outside the demented imagination of Alex Jones, the US political/media class is proclaiming with one voice that Russia is currently orchestrating just such an operation to justify an invasion of Ukraine.

“As part of its plans, Russia is laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating a pretext for invasion,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday. “We have information that indicates Russia has already pre-positioned a group of operatives to conduct a false flag operation in eastern Ukraine.”

“Without getting into too much detail, we do have information that indicates that Russia is already working actively to create a pretext for a potential invasion, for a move on Ukraine,” Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby told the press on Friday. “In fact, we have information that they’ve pre-positioned a group of operatives, to conduct what we call a false flag operation, an operation designed to look like an attack on them or their people, or Russian speaking people in Ukraine, as an excuse to go in.”

The US government has substantiated these incendiary claims with the usual amount of evidence, by which I of course mean jack dick nothingballs. The mass media have not been dissuaded from reporting on this issue by the complete absence of any evidence that this Kremlin false flag plot is in fact a real thing that actually happened, their journalistic standards completely satisfied by the fact that their government instructed them to report it. Countless articles and news segments containing the phrase “false flag” have been blaring throughout all the most influential news outlets in the western world without the slightest hint of skepticism.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Ukraine Pushes US Senators to Vote for Sanctions on German-Russian Pipeline

January 10, 2022

Ukraine Pushes US Senators to Vote for Sanctions on German-Russian Pipeline

Officials say Nord Stream 2 is ‘an existential threat’ to Ukraine

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is to get a vote this week on a bill to sanction Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The pipeline is a key way for Russia to ship energy to Western Europe, notably Germany.

Ukrainian officials are heavily lobbying US senators to vote for the sanctions, claiming the pipeline amounts to “an existential threat” to Ukrainian interests. Ukrainians added that supporting them necessarily means opposing the pipeline.

Historically, Russia exported gas to Europe through Ukraine. They believed they needed a direct line because Ukraine has a large unpaid gas debt, and Russian companies expressed concern that shipping that way would encourage Ukrainian companies to try to siphon off some of that gas.

German officials support the pipeline and are warning the US against getting involved. Chancellor Scholz called the pipeline a “private sector project,” and said targeting it would not be suitable as a way to go after Russia.

UK Threatens Russia With ‘High Impact’ Sanctions Over Ukraine

January 8, 2022

UK Threatens Russia With ‘High Impact’ Sanctions Over Ukraine

NATO foreign ministers are meeting Friday to discuss Ukraine

On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned Russia that the UK is working on “high impact” sanctions Western powers could implement over allegations that Moscow is plotting to invade Ukraine.

“The UK is working with our partners on these sanctions, including high impact measures targeting the Russian financial sector and individuals,” Truss said.

For their part, the Russians have strongly denied the claim that they are planning to invade Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin is concerned with the increased US and NATO presence in the region and is seeking security guarantees that NATO won’t expand further eastward.

Truss insists that Russia is the “aggressor” and that NATO has always been a “defensive alliance,” although since the Soviet Union collapsed, NATO has waged wars of aggression in the Balkans and across the Middle East and North Africa.

Truss’ language on sanctions echoes what is coming out of Washington. The US has warned Moscow of “severe” sanctions that would aim to isolate Russia from the global financial system. In a call with President Biden last week, Putin said such sanctions could lead to the end of US-Russia relations.

On Friday, Truss and other NATO foreign ministers will hold virtual talks on Ukraine ahead of planned meetings with Russia. On January 10th, US and Russian officials will meet in Geneva to discuss Moscow’s concerns. On January 12th, NATO will hold a meeting with Russian officials in Brussels.

US to Help Ukraine Strengthen Border With Russia, Belarus

December 30, 2021

US to Help Ukraine Strengthen Border With Russia, Belarus

The US will pay about $20 million for video recording systems, drones, and equipment for border guards

Ukraine’s border service said on Tuesday that the US will finance projects to strengthen the country’s borders with Russia and Belarus.

The border service said the US will spend about $20 million to purchase video recording systems, drones, and personal protective equipment for Ukraine’s border guards.

The new project comes as tensions are high between the US and Russia over Ukraine and Western military activity in the region. Moscow views US support for Ukraine as a provocation and is seeking guarantees that Kyiv won’t join NATO.

Since 2014, the US has provided Ukraine with over $2 billion in military aid, including Javelin anti-tank missiles. The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which President Biden signed into law Monday, allocates $300 million for more military aid to Ukraine.

The US financing of Ukraine’s border projects also comes after the EU has accused Belarus of weaponizing migrants by luring them in from war-torn countries in the Middle East and trying to push them into Poland and other neighboring countries. Belarus denies the accusation, but the US and some of its allies have hit Minsk with sanctions over the issue.

G-7 Warns Russia of ‘Massive Consequences’ of Ukraine Incursion

December 12, 2021

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss speaks at a press conference at the G-7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Liverpool, England, on Dec. 12, 2021. (Jon Super/AP Photo)

G-7 Warns Russia of ‘Massive Consequences’ of Ukraine Incursion

The Group of Seven (G-7) major industrialized countries warned Russia on Dec. 12 that any invasion of Ukraine would have “massive consequences” and would incur “a severe cost.”

In a statement issued after a two-day summit held in the English city of Liverpool, G-7 foreign ministers said they were “united in [their] condemnation of Russia’s military build-up and aggressive rhetoric towards Ukraine.”

Ukrainian servicemen attend a rehearsal of an official ceremony to hand over tanks, armored personnel carriers, and military vehicles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces as the country celebrates Army Day in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 6, 2021. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

The foreign policy chiefs from the United States, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the European Union, called on Russia to “deescalate, pursue diplomatic channels, and abide by its international commitments on transparency of military activities.”

“Any use of force to change borders is strictly prohibited under international law,” they said. “Russia should be in no doubt that further military aggression against Ukraine would have massive consequences and severe cost in response.

“We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the right of any sovereign state to determine its own future.”

Earlier, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told a press conference that the G-7 allies have “sent a very clear united message to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin.”

Truss said the UK is considering “all options” including economic sanctions in response to potential Russian aggression.

“When the UK has wanted to send clear messages and achieve clear goals, we have been prepared to use economic sanctions. So we are considering all options,” she told reporters.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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