Liberalism vs Eurasianism

The Problem with Populist Revolutions...

...Most People Don't Know Where to Stick the Cork!

[CHORUS]

These pricey gyps don't teach us!

Your freedom doesn't reach us!

Enlightenment escapes us!

Awareness doesn't shape us!

How can all this trivia

Take us to the goal you reached?

We came here to be like you,

To find the world you've reached!

These pricey gyps don't teach us!

Your freedom doesn't reach us!

Enlightenment escapes us!

Awareness doesn't shape us!

How can all this trivia

Take us to the goal you reached?

We came here to be like you,

To find the world you've reached!

[TOMMY]

Welcome to the camp!

I guess you all know why we're here.

My name is Tommy, and I became aware this year.

If you want to follow me,

You've got to play pinball.

So put in your earplugs,

Put on your eyeshades,

You know where to put the cork!

Hey you, gettin' drunk,

So sorry, I've got you sussed.

Hey, you, smokin' mother nature,

You missed the bus.

Hey, hung up old Mister Normal,

Don't try to gain my trust.

'Cos you ain't gonna follow me

Any of those ways,

Although you think you must!

Now you can't hear me,

Your ears are truly sealed!

You can't speak either,

'Cos your mouth is filled.

You can't see nothing,

And pinball completes the scene.

Here come willing helpers

To guide you to

Your very own machine!

[CHORUS]

We're not gonna take it.

We're not gonna take it.

We're not gonna take it.

We're not gonna take it.

We're not gonna take it,

Never did and never will,

We don't have to take it.

Gonna break it!

Gonna shake it!

Let's forget it better still!

We're not gonna take it.

We're not gonna take it.

We're not gonna take it.

We're not gonna take it.

We're not gonna take it,

Never did and never will,

Don't want no religion,

As far as we can tell!

We ain't gonna take you,

Never did and never will!

We ain't gonna take you,

We forsake you,

Gonna rape you,

Let's forget you better still!

...In the Nihilistic Twilight of our Idols

They Will Recruit Me...

 

Turn "On" Closed Captions for English translation

Where Dorothy is Taking Us...

WATCH: The #pandemic is transforming the way consumers spend their time and money. Sophie Steel, Co-Head of the Consumer Industry Group for BlackRock Fundamental Equities, explains how consumer values are impacting the ever-changing market. #BLKBottomLine

— BlackRock (@BlackRock) February 14, 2022

Sundance, "The Destination of the Handbasket"

A promoted video from the BlackRock investment group delivers a single point amid a multitude of points that may help clarify exactly where this handbasket is heading.

Notice, the key phrase right at the beginning of this promotional video, “many prize experiences above possessions.” Compare that statement to, “you will own nothing and be happy.” Notice the similarity?

BlackRock and the ever-mysterious Vanguard are the largest financial institutions in the world, with investment assets under management that far exceed the GDP of every country. They are, quite frankly, the vault behind the World Economic Forum, and combined they hold sway in almost everything that happens in the geopolitical world.

As we look at the speed of our increasingly changing world, it is important to remember two key phrases CTH often repeats. First, ‘there are trillions at stake’, and second, ‘everything that happens is about the economics.’

If we stand back and look at the activity, not the expressed ideological framework, but the actual reality of what BlackRock is doing – amid a world where they are purchasing physical assets at an astonishing rate – something does become clearer.

While BlackRock is espousing a world where people “prize experiences above possessions”, and they position themselves as an investment group to finance and profit from that worldview, at the same time BlackRock itself is purchasing physical assets (lots of real estate) for themselves.

Stand back and look at the biggest of the big pictures.

A Build Back Better society, or “great reset”, is factually underway as triggered by the gateway of SARS-CoV-2 and the massive spending by western nations to subsidize the lockdowns, shut-downs, economic closures and forced unemployment.

Global inflation is being driven not only by the American spending spree, but also by the massive government spending programs of the EU, U.K, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and many western nations.

The bills for those subsidies and bailouts are due. The labor of the citizens is going to have to pay those bills, while simultaneously we deal with inflation and massive debt balances on all nations’ balance sheets.

Into this mix comes the very real possibility of a declining U.S. trade dollar, as a result of geopolitical conflict between the west and Russia, China, Iran and OPEC in the geography of Ukraine. The financial sanctions by NATO and western allies have factually created a rift in currency exchange valuations.

As the proverbial west hammers those sanctions even harder and more deliberately, what they are doing is creating a stronger and greater likelihood that the dollar will be removed as the global trade currency, and we will enter a phase where two sets of nations exist:

One set of nations will run their economy on oil, gas and fossil fuels. The other set of nations will be focused on running their economic engine on the premise of sustainability, or renewable energy.

The sanctions toward Russia actually help to drive this chasm even wider.

To me, this looks entirely purposeful – done by specific intent and design.

Two world groupings. One group, oil-based energy (traditional) – let’s label them the RED GROUP; and one group GREEN energy (the build back better plan). It is not accidental these two groups hold similar internal geopolitical views and perspectives.

♦ The important part to see is… there are going to be two sets of nations with two structurally different economies. A red group and a green group.

These two groups are going to end up in competition with each other. It is as inevitable as sunrise, if you can see this cleaving I am talking about.

Now, think about the economic system of trade that exists between the Red and Green groups. There has to be a way for them to exchange value if they are going to purchase from and sell to each other.

Additionally, and this is *key*, the Red group is going to have a strong strategic advantage in production costs. The Red group is going to be using oil, coal and gas (fossil fuels), which are abundant, cheap and the infrastructure is already in place.

The Green group is going to be at a strong disadvantage, at least for a generation or two, as the costs associated with the production of goods and systems is going to be much more expensive to operate, as the transition into Build Back Better sustainable or renewable energy takes place.

In the macro view, stuff from the Red group is going to be cheap. The exact same stuff from the Green group is going to be more expensive.

If you are still with me, hopefully, you can see how this is all coming together.

♦ The western debt incurred during COVID-19 is a problem. However, this debt diminishes with inflation. A $20 trillion debt is not as big a problem when bread costs $100/loaf and people are earning $50,000 a month. The Green group is entering into this position. In this position, the BlackRock approach of physical ownership of real estate and physical stuff is way more important than holding money or dollars which will immediately lose value. Physical ownership of stuff is important.

♦ It is likely, based on the economic alignment, the Green group will be forced to assemble under one currency (set of financial valuations), and the Red group will then assemble under their own currency (set of financial valuations). My hunch is the western group (green) will use a digital currency.

Once both sets of currencies are established, then trade between the Red group and Green group can be determined based on a central valuation done by, say, The World Bank. In the Red group, a 20″ tire is worth 100 red bucks. In the Green group, a 20″ tire is worth 150 digital green bucks. Two vaults and two exchanges.

In order for all of this to come together, the population needs to be shifted in their perspective of money and material value. That takes us back to where this conversation started: “owning nothing and being happy” is akin to “prizing experiences over possessions.”

The Western (green) financial mega-system operators are going to own the physical assets, and the people will live under that ownership. In the Red group, that system -essentially- already exists.

NeverTrump Maryland's Opening Move...

Mikenzie Frost, "Gov. Larry Hogan officially endorses Kelly Schulz to be Maryland's next governor"

Gov. Larry Hogan officially backed his former cabinet member, Kelly Schulz, in the race to be Maryland’s next governor, praising her for her intelligence and determination to continue his legacy in the state.

Schulz, a Republican from Frederick County, was a state delegate before joining Hogan’s administration from the beginning. First, she served as Labor Secretary and then moved into Commerce Secretary.

In the ballroom of the Waterfront Hotel in Annapolis full of supporters, Hogan made it clear who he wants to pass the baton to in 2023 and continue his legacy.

Here is only one candidate who has the ability, experience and desire to move Maryland forward your next governor Kelly Schulz,” Hogan said, which was met with applause.

The overarching theme woven into the statements was if voters want a continuation of polities from Hogan, Schulz is the candidate. Currently, Schulz is squaring off against Del. Dan Cox, a Republican endorsed by former President Donald Trump, in the Republican primary. Perennial candidate Robin Ficker is also running as a Republican.

Cox did not return a request for comment regarding Hogan’s official endorsement, though when the governor publicly called Cox a “QAnon whack job” in November 2021 and that Schulz was “the clear choice,” Cox said Hogan has attacked “our Party’s principles and its leader and America First champion President Trump.” Gov. Hogan has repeatedly citified former President Trump’s comments, policies and actions.

I pledge to continue to serve the people on the issues that matter such as school choice, reducing crime and poverty by providing and supporting law and order and real tax relief, ending CRT, ensuring secure elections with comprehensive election integrity, and ending and never again allowing the lockdowns and medical mandates that have harmed so many,” Cox said in a November statement.

According to the latest Goucher College Poll, Hogan has more than 60% approval among Republican, Democrat and Independent voters; something Hogan said he thinks Schulz can continue and potentially lean into if she clears the primary election.

“I think she can be a united and bring people together. She’s worked across the aisle her whole career,” Hogan said. “Obviously she’s focused on the Republican Primary, but I think she’s going to convince a lot of independents and Democrats to cross over.”

Schulz said Hogan’s endorsement “means everything to her,” and said she is confident in her ability to keep moving Maryland forward.

“I guarantee you each and every one of my opponents do to know how to do that and they are going to bring us backwards,” she said.

Quick to touch on some of the platform priorities, Schulz keyed into education and public safety as issues of importance for her. Shy on specifics, Schulz picked up on the importance of public safety; it’s the number one issue for Maryland voters, according to the latest Goucher Poll.

In cities like Baltimore where violence and criminal behavior continues to have a grip on the communities, Schulz used the opportunity to call on the General Assembly to pass Hogan’s anti-crime legislative agenda.

“We need to treat criminals like criminals and cops like heroes,” Schulz added.

The Republican hopeful would become the third GOP governor in a row to win election if successful; a first for the state of Maryland and the first female governor in state history. Schulz said keeping the governor’s seat in the party would be important for the state’s checks and balances, given the State House is routinely controlled by Democrats, often with veto-proof majorities.

“We can’t go back to a time where we were eight years ago where we have one party control,” she said. “Marylanders have become accustomed to being able to have a say.”

The endorsement from the governor comes as speculation continues to swirl about Hogan’s next political step; national Republicans tired to recruit the two-term Republican governor tor run for U.S. Senate, challenging U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen in 2022, though Hogan quashed those attempts. Some reports have surfaced that Hogan has been making trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, furthering his presidential run rumors.

While those rumors continue, Hogan appears committed to cementing his legacy of economic improvement for the state of Maryland.

She’s tenacious and hardworking and smart,” Hogan said. “I also think she would do the best job out of all 16 candidates running for governor.

Schulz leads the Republican pack when it comes to fundraising cash on hand. According to the latest filing report, she has just over $1 million in her coffers, compared to Cox’s roughly $271,000. However, compared to the top tier Democrats, Schulz trails behind. State Comptroller Peter Franchot has approximately $3.3 million cash on hand, Wes Moore has about $2.4 million and Tom Perez has roughly $1.2 million.

Political Analyst John Dedie called Hogan’s endorsement a symbolic stamp of approval for her to move forward utilizing Hogan’s record and policy efforts in the campaign.

“[Hogan] looks at his endorsement as the Good Housekeeping seal of approval,” Dedie said. “So, the fact is, he gave out this endorsement and is doing it kind of early, is signifying this is the candidate that I approve of.”

Dedie said because of Hogan’s high approval ratings, and the variety of candidates on the Democrat side of the race, he wouldn’t be surprised to see Hogan in some political ads as the race starts taking more shape.

“He wants Kelly Schulz to continue his legacy,” Dedie said.

Due to lawsuits challenging Maryland’s congressional and legislative redistricting maps, the primary election was rescheduled to July 19. Candidates also have until April 15 to file.

The Clash of Civilizations

  

Geoffrey Clarfield and Salim Mansur, "Samuel Huntington Correctly Predicted What’s Happening In Ukraine" 

In 1996, the late Samuel Huntington (1927-2008), a respected Harvard professor, published The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. It was his rejoinder to Francis Fukuyama’s 1992 bestseller, The End of History and the Last Man. Both were engaged in imagining the future of the post-Cold War world.

The outbreak of the war in Ukraine reminded us of the debate that had unfolded over Fukuyama’s and Huntington’s differing visions.

For Fukuyama, the Cold War’s end was also an end of History with a capital ‘H’, meaning the notion of history driven by ideological conflicts. In his view, though troublesome events would still arise, these would not up-end the global spread of the neo-liberal, rule-based world order in terms of freedom, democracy, a market economy, and secularization of cultures, all as summed up in the American experience.

Huntington’s view was less optimistic. He saw the Cold War’s end as a transition into a world in which the divisions among the great powers once based on political ideologies would be replaced by the more enduring divisions in history grounded in cultures and religious traditions. Huntington defined civilization as the broadest cultural identity in history.

Hence, Huntington predicted a “clash of civilizations”—a phrase borrowed from Bernard Lewis, historian of the Middle East and the Islamic civilization—darkening the future of the new century and millennium ahead.

Huntington cautioned fellow Americans, especially the Fukuyama-like optimists: “In the emerging world of ethnic conflict and civilizational clash, Western belief in the universality of Western culture suffers three problems: it is false; it is immoral; and it is dangerous.” He added, “The belief that non-Western peoples should adopt Western values, institutions, and culture is immoral because of what would be necessary to bring it about… Imperialism is the necessary logical consequence of universalism.”

Events showed Huntington was prophetic and erased Fukuyama’s rosy outlook.

The “global war on terrorism” was a response to the Islamic extremist terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, coupled with the neoconservatives’ argument that we must spread democracy and American values abroad. This morphed into an endless war across blood-drenched boundaries of civilizations, just as Huntington foresaw. The same global war on terrorism vaporized the anticipated “peace dividend” from the Cold War’s end. Lastly, the rebooted confrontations with Russia have ignited a lethal war in Ukraine, through which runs the fractured civilizational East-West frontier in Europe, bringing back with a vengeance the heightened tensions of a Cold War that seemingly never ended.

With specific regard to the conflict, the Soviet Union’s collapse resurrected pre-communist Russia’s past as the civilizational center of Orthodox Christianity and Moscow as the third Rome. Independent Ukraine, however, is a “torn” country. Half the population is ethnically Russian and, as Orthodox Christians, linked to Russia; the other half is of mixed ethnicities and its cultural and historic affinity rests in Europe to the West of Russia.

It’s not ironic to see in this war a civilizational conflict. On the one side are those Ukrainians seeking support from the West (EU and NATO) to defend their perceived cultural identity in terms of western Enlightenment. On the other side are the Russians who resist Western values because they subvert their cultural identity and their revived Orthodox Christianity.

With an eye to events in Ukraine and their functioning as a microcosm of a schism playing out around the globe, Huntington’s thesis is somewhat limited because he left unexamined the effects of civilizations’ internal decay. For example, he did not consider the degrading effects on American culture that Allan Bloom, in 1987, examined in The Closing of the American Mind. Nor did he take into account books, such as Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1984) or Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism (1979), or Lasch’s later book The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy (published posthumously in 1997).

Bloom, Postman, and Lasch were describing what happens when a culture begins dismantling its foundational values and, consequently, loses its spiritual vitality. In such a culture, where people increasingly seek only pleasure, the citizens live for the moment, cut adrift from the past, and uncaring of their future. Lasch was almost Burkean in writing, “The narcissist has no interest in the future because, in part, he has so little interest in the past.”

Huntington simply could not imagine that an increasingly faithless, feckless, radically secularized, and libertarian West (and America) might be a greater danger than other cultures in widening the post-Cold War world’s civilizational divisions. In other words, he did not perceive that the contemporary West, culturally in disrepair and spiritually broken, can provide neither leadership nor moral guidance to others when needed in preventing the clash of civilizations.

Huntington was also not entirely right about America’s foundational culture based on Enlightenment values being unique because it has universal appeal. But he was right that America, by spreading her culture (however degraded), when backed by force (defensive or otherwise) to non-Western peoples, would corrupt her American exceptionalism into American imperialism.

For the last twenty years at least, American would have done well to recall John Quincy Adams’s words:

Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her [America’s] heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.

For the United States to invite, or entice, Ukraine into NATO was recklessly widening the internal divide of a “torn” country, while appallingly baiting Russia to invade pre-emptively to cancel that invitation. Consequently, the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine has as much to do with Russian revanchism, as it is with American hubris that has made the people, especially their leaders, heedless not only to Huntington’s apprehension but also to the warnings of George Washington in his farewell address—an address that is even more relevant in the post-Cold War world than when given in 1796.

Washington warned, “Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns.” Furthermore, “Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? It is our policy to steer clear of permanent alliances, with any portion of the foreign world.”

The lesson, therefore, for Americans to draw from Ukraine’s tragedy is that, when distant clashes occur along civilizational boundaries for reasons that are foreign to America, then American involvement may do more harm than good. If Americans wish others to pay heed to them, they need to be true in words and deeds to the foundational values of their culture and then, deservingly, others may listen.

Is America Virtue Signaling Itself into a War with Russia over Ukraine?

Why not?  American politicians no longer solve problems because they are no longer controlling anything.  Corporate bureaucrats rotating through J&K Street's corporate-government revolving door and from political think tanks like The Brookings Institution actually write the legislation and computer algorithms that the Deeps State bureaucracy uses to actually control our corporate capitalist society.  Politicians only function is to issue "Black History Month" declarations and lament the awful state of "Trans" Rights....  many of whom are former Marxists, the world's "Virtue Signalers" par excellence, "For the People!"  

Politicians and elections only exist to grant citizens an "illusion" of control, to put them at ease so that they don't drive trucks into the capitol's center and shut it down permanently.  Hollywood has more influence on world events than Washington DC, cuz they're the one's creating desires for the virtues being signaled in DC by the politicians.  And as we all know, the virtue Hollywood sells is "Enjoyment" (aka "Entertainment").  And you can't just "want" to enjoy, enjoyment is an imperative! Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is the anxiety you must feel if you aren't enjoying/ entertaining yourself.  Best keep that I-Phone close by or you might miss Joy Behar's latest Tweet from the set of "The View"! And always remember, when the time comes that we want you to have an opinion, we'll give it to you!

Now, "Pray (loudly) for the people of Ukraine, and (silently) that they send lot's of Russians through the Gates of Hell!"  And most importantly, ENJOY doing so, confident in the knowledge that we will crush all those who disagree with "us" and who try and make that freshly-laundered-through-the-culture political position uncomfortable for you!  

True-DOH!

The Everlasting Present...

Ukraine: The Everlasting Present Documentary dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from channel 99 on Vimeo.

Narrated by Simona Papadopolous, George Papadopolous' (Trump's campaign foreign policy advisor) wife.

Goldman Be What Goldman Do...

Biden Be What Biden Do?

Ukraine Enters the Meme Wars

Wars 'R Us!

Old Money v. New Money

Soros' World Views

 

GEORGE SOROS, "Vladimir Putin and the Risk of World War III"

After receiving a green light from Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his war in Ukraine in an effort to reclaim the old Russian empire. But both leaders appear to have misjudged the situation, raising the prospect of a global catastrophe – unless they are removed from power.

Mar 11, 2022 SAN FRANCISCO – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 was the beginning of a third world war that has the potential to destroy our civilization. The invasion was preceded by a long meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on February 4 – the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations and the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. At the end of that meeting, the two men released a 5,000-word, carefully drafted document announcing a close partnership between their two countries. The document is stronger than any treaty and must have required detailed negotiations in advance.

I was surprised that Xi appeared to have given Putin carte blanche to invade and wage war against Ukraine. He must be very confident that his confirmation as China’s ruler for life later this year will be a mere formality. Having concentrated all power in his own hands, Xi has carefully scripted the scenario by which he will be elevated to the level of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

Having obtained Xi’s backing, Putin set about realizing his life’s dream with incredible brutality. Approaching the age of 70, Putin feels that if he is going to make his mark on Russian history, it is now or never. But his concept of Russia’s role in the world is warped. He seems to believe that the Russian people need a Czar whom they can follow blindly. That is the direct opposite of a democratic society, and it is a vision that distorts the Russian “soul,” which is emotional to the point of sentimentality.

As a child, I had many encounters with Russian soldiers when they occupied Hungary in 1945. I learned that they would share their last piece of bread with you if you appealed to them. Later, at the beginning of the 1980s, I embarked on what I call my political philanthropy.

First, I set up a foundation in my native Hungary, and then I actively participated in the disintegration of the Soviet empire. When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985, the disintegration had already begun. I set up a foundation in Russia, and then did the same in each of the successor states. In Ukraine, I established a foundation even before it became an independent country. I also visited China in 1984, where I was the first foreigner allowed to set up a foundation (which I closed in 1989, just before the Tiananmen Square massacre).

I don’t know Putin personally, but I have watched his rise very closely, aware of his ruthlessness. He reduced the capital of Chechnya, Grozny, to rubble, just as he is currently threatening to do to the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv.

Putin used to be a canny KGB operator, but he seems to have changed recently. Having developed an idée fixe, he appears to have lost touch with reality. He certainly misjudged the situation in Ukraine. He expected Russian-speaking Ukrainians to welcome Russian soldiers with open arms, but they turned out to be no different from the Ukrainian-speaking population. Ukrainians have put up an incredibly brave resistance against seemingly overwhelming odds.

In July 2021, Putin published a long essay arguing that Russians and Ukrainians are really one people, and that the Ukrainians have been misled by neo-Nazi agitators. The first part of his argument is not without some historical justification, given that Kyiv was the original seat of the Russian Orthodox Church. But in the second part, it was Putin who was misled. He ought to have known better. Many Ukrainians fought valiantly during the Euromaidan protests in 2014.

The events of 2014 made him very angry. But the Russian army performed poorly when it was ordered to attack its Ukrainian brothers. Ingrained corruption in the awarding of defense contracts also has played an important role in its underperformance. Yet rather than blaming himself, Putin seems to have gone literally mad. He has decided to punish Ukraine for standing up to him, and he appears to be acting without any constraint. He is throwing the entire Russian army into the battle and ignoring all the rules of war, not least by indiscriminately bombing the civilian population. Many hospitals have been hit, and the electrical grid supplying the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (currently occupied by Russian troops) has been damaged. In besieged Mariupol, 400,000 people have been without water and food for nearly a week.

Russia may well lose the war. The United States and the European Union are both sending defensive weapons to Ukraine, and there are efforts to buy Russian-made MIG fighters that Ukrainian pilots know how to fly. These could make all the difference. Regardless of the outcome, Putin has already worked wonders when it comes to strengthening the EU’s resolve and unity.

Meanwhile, Xi seems to have realized that Putin has gone rogue. On March 8, one day after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had insisted that the friendship between China and Russia remained “rock solid,” Xi called French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to say that he supported their peacemaking efforts. He wanted maximum restraint in the war in order to avert a humanitarian crisis.

It is far from certain that Putin will accede to Xi’s wishes. We can only hope that Putin and Xi will be removed from power before they can destroy our civilization.

Proof that the Last Vestiges of Intellectual Integrity Died in the Ukraine Last Week

...not that Stephan Colbert ever HAD any!

Ukraine on Fire - Oliver Stone

Urban Police Stand-Downs in Action

The Road to Totalitarianism Get's Another Brick or Two...

Jim Hoft, "Just In: Biden to Sign Executive Order to Regulate Cryptocurrency after Assault on Dollar" 

Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order on regulating cryptocurrency this week according to a report by Bloomberg based on anonymous sources.

JUST IN: Biden executive order on crypto is "expected to be signed by the president this week." - White House reporter at Bloomberg

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) March 7, 2022

Decrypt.co reported:

According to the report, “The order will direct federal agencies to examine potential regulatory changes, as well as the national security and economic impact of digital assets.”

The executive order will reportedly help coordinate the role of agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission on cryptocurrency. 

Industry actors have long complained that guidance from the SEC and other agencies has been unhelpful as they seek to be compliant with U.S. law.   The order has been around the proverbial corner for some time. Bloomberg initially projected back in January that it might get signed in February, while Yahoo Finance reported in mid-February that President Biden was “expected to issue an executive order next week.” That clearly didn’t happen.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has made the issue more pressing, as sanctions, central banking and cryptocurrency financing have been in the public consciousness. Instead of using military force, the United States and its allies have been fighting Russia with what the Financial Times has termed “financial warfare.” 

--- 

Sundance, "The Professionally Republican Gather at Sea Island Again, Strategizing 2022 Plans to Thwart Political Challenge to DC Power"

The Sea Island Summit has always been the DeceptiCon gathering of Wall Street elites to cloister themselves and plan a strategy to protect their interests from the base of republican voters.

The only people invited to the gathering are the self-described UniParty elites who view their power as a position to rule the proles.  The Tea Party and MAGA community have long been the pebble in the shoe of the Sea Island group.

Heck, this very website and discussion group exists as an outcome of accepting the intent of the DeceptiCon class and making a purposeful self-respecting decision to stop being a victim of their UniParty assembly.  Battered conservative, no more.

The American Enterprise Institute’s annual World Forum is hosted at Sea Island specifically for the purposes of planning how to manipulate registered Republican voters into supporting their agenda.

This year is no different.  Attendees include the customary cocktail class donors, Mitch McConnell DeceptiCons, Never Trumpers, child traffickers and sexploitation enablers like the Lincoln Project and many more corporate types.

The goal is always the same, protect the business operations in Washington DC at all costs.  With the 2022 election year upon us, and with the primary season starting soon, the GOPe wing of the UniParty must share and discuss their strategic defense initiatives.

People used to call this the “establishment” Republicans, but really, that’s too generic a word for what they do.  These are the deceptive elites – the lying, conniving, scheming bastards. They represent the vile pus at the bottom of a lanced boil from a rotting blue whale carcass that can stink an entire city.  They call themselves conservatives, hence “DeceptiCons” gets the specificity of their intent.

As noted in a CBS outline of attendees, the gathering is being led by Robert Doar, a vile-mannered Republican and beneficiary of Michael Bloomberg’s money.   From the Senate, Mitch McConnell will be joined by Senator Tim Scott (SC) a familiar attendee, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, and retiring Senator Rob Portman of Ohio.

The pontificating Jonah Goldberg will also be there to share his sanctimonious hatred of the unwashed masses, along with Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey.  The very worst of GOP politicians, or more aptly, walking piles of toxic excrement unworthy of elevated status to useful manure status, will be in attendance.   Florida Senator Rick Scott and New York Congresswoman Elise Stephanik will also attend, likely to capture the open checkbook lunches.

Not a single Republican who has ever attended these Sea Island summits has ever held a position of value to the working class of the Republican Party.  Not one.  A few of the stealthier characters, those who duck down in the seats before they reach the security gates, have fooled the voters; however, as with all things conniving, their true nature always surfaces, eventually.

Mike Pence will likely attend (though he is not in the scant CBS outline), and you can bet the 2024 DeceptiCon approved candidate will be in the mix somewhere.  AEI tries to hide the political guest list because of websites like us who have caught on to the schemes (think splitter strategy).  However, if I were betting, I’d say names like Nikki Haley, Liz Cheney, John Thune, Joni Ernst and Kristi Noem will likely be behind the windows of the dark tinted SUV’s arriving late in the evening.

Seated in the Corinthian chairs will be the McConnell’s, Portman’s, Thune’s, Barrasso’s, Blunt’s, Bush’s, Cheney’s and more.  The GOP donors will be the typical who’s who of Wall Street with some tech and war industry folks blended in.

This year the White House is sending a team including Director of the National Economic Council, Brian Deese (Deese is slated to appear in front of the World Forum audience on Friday, March 11).  It’s bipartisan, they say, but the underlying reality is one we have always noted.  There is only one UniParty bird in Washington DC, an always hungry vulture with two wings, Democrats and Republicans.

The Sea Island Summit 2022 will have the exact same purpose as Sea Island 2016.  Stop the influence of Donald Trump, and do whatever it takes to crush those pesky working class Tea Party and MAGA people.

The people who attend Sea Island don’t give a rat’s ass if it is their Democrats or their Republicans who retain power. What they cannot and will not tolerate, is a rise of power to benefit middle-America, the working class.  It has always been thus.

Thanks for the $50 fill-up, Joe

 

Welcome to Maryland!

A Tribute to World Leaders...

 

...and the Champions of the Perennially Oppressed Ordinary People!

Caesar Always Loved the People... e-r-r-r-r-p!

The Globalist Neo-Liberal/-Con UniParty Post WWII War Against Independent Media and Classical Liberalism Continues...

How Democrats Support Allies...

 

Verba non Acta!

Weaponizing Money

Steve Cortes, "The Risks of Heeding America's Warmongers"

Ruling Class laptop war-hawks commence a dangerous new weaponization of money.

Among the cognoscenti of the Western capitals of politics and finance, the chorus screams unanimously for ever-escalating economic sanctions against Russia. Lost amidst the cacophony of those calling for a historic financial bloodletting is a dispassionate and careful analysis of the potential peril of such unprecedented collective actions.

Specifically, for the first time ever, the powers of the Western World align to purposefully and willfully destroy the currency of a major power – and not just any power, but the most armed nuclear force on earth. The decision to essentially de-bank the entire country of Russia, save very key carve-outs (more on those elements in a moment), represents a brash entry into a heretofore uncharted path of the weaponization of money.

After all, even the despicable Nazi regime during WWII did not face this level of monetary attack. In fact, the Germans transacted internationally via the Bank of International Settlements, which remained neutral in a Switzerland which was then committed to that over-arching principle.

Today, the Russians find no such financial harbor, resulting in the recent absolute plunge in Russia’s currency. See this chart on the US Dollar vs. the Ruble:

Even a columnist for the Washington Post recognized the potential massive and dangerous unknowable ramifications of such actions. When the committed globalists of Jeff Bezos’s own leftist paper can recognize the dangers, everyone better start paying attention.

Here’s the main problem with this weaponization of money: it specifically and immediately targets the Russian people, rather than Putin, the Oligarchs, or their war machine. Regular Russian citizens now find themselves suddenly forced to deal with massive, runaway inflation. Their hard-earned wages become more and more worthless by the hour as their currency collapses as a direct consequence of the concerted efforts of ruling class elites in Washington, New York, London, and Brussels. What will be the fallout of cornering a proud nation of 145 million people in this manner?

Putin and his fabulously wealthy connected cronies can handle, at least in the near-term, such historic volatility -- but the masses of Russia cannot.

Biden, as usual, has this policy approach exactly backwards. If the main goal is to punish the leadership and starve Moscow’s war machine, then a cessation of purchases of Russian energy would be the actual, brutal, and effective prescription. Under Biden, even energy-blessed America welcomed in a surge of Russian energy imports in 2021, an 11 year high of Russian imports to the US. These products include over 200,000 barrels of Crude per day and over 700,000 total barrels per day of all fuel products from Putin’s Moscow, according to S&P Global.

These shipments continue unabated, right now, meaning America pours tens of millions of dollars of hard US currency into the accounts of the Oligarchs on a daily basis. Moreover, this flow of funds is somehow…miraculously…EXCLUDED from the otherwise onerous banking clampdown on Russian transactions.

Of course, America’s purchases of Russian energy, as large as they are, cannot compare to Western Europe’s, which remains totally beholden to Russian supplies, especially for Natural Gas. Those gigantic flows continue as well, proving the utter duplicity of the ruling class powerbrokers of the US and Europe. As blue-checks post Ukraine flags on their social media, they play a never-before attempted experiment in global Foreign Exchange warfare. But as these same virtue- signaling globalists pour out Russian vodka in performative protest, they welcome in torrents of Russian energy.

It seems as though this Ukraine-flag waving crowd of self-assured warmongers in the West actually wants the fighting to continue, otherwise they would resolutely refuse all Russian Energy, and leave the Ruble alone.

Clearly, many Western elites also clamor for regime change, hoping that a wave of economic pain upon the Russian people will compel an uprising – and it may. But it might also unleash rulers who are far less predictable and far more ferociously anti-American than Putin.

Recall that after America eliminated the terrible Saddam Hussein in Iraq, we ended up dealing with an even worse ISIS. In that scenario, at least the Caliphate did not possess nuclear weapons. The reality in Russia is quite different, of course, as the total warhead count in Russia exceeds America’s, see this Bloomberg chart:

Courage is the most important human virtue. Plenty of Ukrainians show real courage in repelling the Putin invasion. In contrast, there is nothing courageous about American politico laptop war-dogs constantly agitating for escalation, and instituting a money war against Russia.

The kinetic war that could well unfold from these actions will not be fought by these effete dilletantes, but instead by everyday American citizens from the heartland, by brave young men from flyover country with names like Mendez and Jackson.

Real courage in US politics right now requires standing up against the powerful and loud bi-partisan Washington War Machine.

Joe Biden's Neoliberal Globalist 2014 Coup in Ukraine has now Officially Failed.

Names mentioned in video above in bold below:

from Wikipedia:

On 22 February 2014, Yulia Tymoshenko was released from prison and addressed more than 100,000 people on Independence Square.[240] The same day, Parliament appointed Arsen Avakov as acting interior minister.[241] Lawmakers also ousted Viktor Pshonka as general prosecutor of Ukraine in a no-confidence vote.[242]

On 23 February, the second day of national mourning, Parliament voted to abolish the law on language policies that had given the Russian, Romanian, and Hungarian languages the official status of regional languages in some areas.[3][243] However, this measure was later vetoed by the acting president, who said he would not sign the bill until new legislation protecting minority languages was developed.[244] The same day, Parliament dismissed Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, Health Minister Raisa Bogatyrova, and Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk and nationalised Yanukovych's private estate Mezhyhirya.[3][245] Warrants were issued for former Incomes Minister Oleksandr Klymenko and former Prosecutor General Pshonka.[3] Parliament also passed amendments restoring its power to appoint and dismiss judges, which had belonged to the Supreme Council of Justice.[246]

Kyiv Metro became fully operational again, including the reopening of the Maidan Nezalezhnosti station, on 24 February.[247]

On 24 February, Parliament dismissed Social Policies Minister Natalia Korolevska and Culture Minister Leonid Novokhatko;[248] it also dismissed Ihor Sorkin as governor of the National Bank of Ukraine and replaced him with Stepan Kubiv.[249][250] The same day, it appointed Valentyn Nalyvaichenko as head of the Security Service of Ukraine after dismissing Oleksandr Yakymenko from the post.[251] Meanwhile, the leader of the Party of Regions faction, Oleksandr Yefremov, declared that the party was moving into the opposition.[252] Seventy-seven of its MPs had left the faction over the past few days.[252]

On Tuesday, 25 February, acting President Turchynov called for the formation of a national unity government by Thursday.[253] (Two days earlier, he had asked for the formation of such a government by Tuesday.[254]) Also on the 25th, Anatoliy Kinakh and 32 other deputies, mostly former Party of Regions members, created the Economic Development faction.[255][256]

On 26 February, Turchynov assumed the duties of the supreme commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.[257][258]

On 27 February 2014 the first Yatsenyuk government headed by Arseniy Yatsenyuk was formed.[259] The cabinet was formed as a coalition of the parties Batkivschyna, UDAR and Svoboda and the parliamentary factions Economic Development and Sovereign European Ukraine and other independent MPs.[

Eight years later, almost to the day, Russia invades to restore the original Ukrainian pre-coup order. 

Baltimore City Laying Out Red Carpet for Homelessness

Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, "Baltimore gets serious about helping homeless people"

How does one measure a society’s greatness? By its military might? By its wealth? By its natural beauty, architecture or founding documents? Here’s a yardstick that came to mind recently: how it treats its most vulnerable members.

As the United States enters the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s more than half-million homeless people certain qualify as among the most vulnerable. The group is disproportionately made up of people of color who are more likely to have dealt with disability, addiction, mental health issues and incarceration. They are usually individuals, but there are often families in these circumstances as well — their misfortune tied, above all else, to the chronic lack of affordable housing.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott recently announced that the city will be spending $90.3 million, most of it in federal COVID relief funds, to assist the city’s homeless population, with the centerpiece of the plan being to convert two yet-to-be-identified city hotels into emergency housing. The proposal drew predictable reactions. Those who have been laboring for years to find better opportunities for the estimated 2,200 people who find themselves living on the streets of Baltimore on any given night cheered. Those who see almost any social safety net spending, at least from government sources, as an indulgence and a drag on productivity voiced their displeasure. “Does that include room service?” asked one Twitter user.

It’s much easier to look down uncaringly at homeless people if one has viewed them only from afar and never witnessed firsthand the hardships they face each day, their health worsened and life often shortened by their unhappy conditions. To judge them merely as a nuisance, as an impediment to commerce — their tents an eyesore, their existence primarily a public safety threat — is to deny our own humanity. The question is not whether to help homeless people, it’s how best to help them to get on their feet. Converting hotels to help them get in from the cold makes a lot of sense given that a traditional homeless shelter’s congregate living design is not only often fraught, it’s especially dangerous during a pandemic. Better to provide individual living space.

There are, however, at least two significant challenges here. The first is to overcome traditional government inefficiency and red tape. Mayor Scott’s intent is right, but will City Hall be able to award contracts, meet the requirements of the American Rescue Plan and the U.S. Department of Housing, and get the money out the door in a timely fashion — and with appropriate transparency and oversight? Promising to spend millions is one thing, following through is often another. This can’t be yet another project that is loudly trumpeted today but quietly still pending years hence. Lives are literally at stake.

The second, and perhaps even more difficult, issue is simply this: Will Baltimore stand alone in this serious effort to address homelessness? Maryland needs a regional approach to this problem. If Baltimore’s initiative relieves Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel, Harford and Carroll counties of their own obligations toward homeless people, as individuals in crisis simply leave Towson, Glen Burnie, Bel Air and beyond to find help in the city, then the problem of homelessness isn’t being solved so much as transferred. That’s just another form of redlining (or perhaps reverse-urban flight-ing). The counties have American Rescue Plan dollars sitting around as well. Where are their plans to help the less fortunate? Baltimore County has pitched a $16 million “Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund,” but it is slated to go to at least a half-dozen purposes from preserving existing affordable housing to making existing shelters more accessible to the disabled.

Granted, maybe helping homeless people isn’t good politics outside Baltimore, and this is, after all, an election year. But shouldn’t it be? Aren’t communities with fewer people living on the street better communities for all? Critics are correct in at least one regard: The issue is complicated with many underlying factors, among them the worsening shortage of decent, affordable housing. That’s a problem that can be corrected through responsible public investment. And it’s why Mayor Scott’s approach is a reasonable one — if done responsibly, promptly and not in isolation.