Economic Participants,
Alex Krainer starts with a constructive note about investing, rather than asset-stripping: The magical essence of economic development That magic is us (+ credit)
Up until about ten years ago, Germany was the world's No. 1 exporting superpower. But contrary to what one might assume, most of Germany's exports were not products of known and recognized brands like Bosch, Mercedes or BMW. More than 50% of German exports were products and services developed by her (once) burgeoning small and medium-sized enterprises, most of them companies you may have never heard of. But such businesses were the engine of German industrial dynamism... ..Germany was the home base of the world's largest number of hidden "champions" - market leaders that occupied either first, second or third spot in terms of the global market share of whatever product or service they produced. Some 1,500 German firms qualified as market champions.
For perspective, the distant second in terms of number of market champions was the U.S.A. which has about 300 such companies. So, how did Germany create fully 1,500 market champions? We always heard stories about the excellence of German engineering and the well educated and disciplined workforce, etc. But those are children's tales that miss the mark and explain nothing...
..The secret of Germany's success, which has had a 200-year continuity in spite of suffering through biblical crises over this period, is in her banking system which Werner said was the best in the world. American economist Michael Hudson also wrote extensively about German industrial banking. Germany had the largest number of banks in Europe: about 1,500 small, local banks.
Fully 70% of these banks were non-profit community banking institutions. Their core business was funding local small and medium-sized enterprises. They tended to have close relationships with their clients and actively participated in their business development. https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/the-magic-essence-of-economic-development
Under sustained attack...
German economy is ‘unraveling’Facing a second year of zero growth, the EU’s largest economy is on a path to decline that threatens to become irreversible, the outlet warned.
Estimates show that after five years of stagnation, the German economy is now 5% smaller than it could have been if the pre-pandemic growth trend had persisted.
The global economic slowdown, along with years of “poor” decisions has hit Germany hard, the article stated. Its export-driven industry, accounting for about 30% of its GDP, faces structural challenges, such as the loss of cheap Russian energy and the struggles of automotive giants Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, hit by soaring energy costs and increased competition from China. https://swentr.site/business/609422-germany-economy-unraveling/
BINGO! German Politician Slams Anti-Russian Sanctions As ‘State Coup’ Against European Industry
On Wednesday, the Hungarian EU presidency announced that ambassadors from member states had agreed on the EU's 15th package of sanctions against Russia. Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said the new package of restrictions targeted Russia's "shadow fleet." https://sputnikglobe.com/20241216/anti-russian-sanctions-are-crazy-coup-against-european-industry---german-politician-1121183643.html
The European Council adopted its 15th package of sanctions against Russia on Monday, focusing on efforts to weaken Moscow’s military and industrial capabilities and targeting its export revenues. The measures address the “circumvention of EU sanctions” by targeting what is called Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers, the Council said in a statement.
EU slaps new sanctions on Russia.
The EU targeted primarily Russian defense firms and shipping companies that transport crude oil and oil products by sea. A chemical plant and a civilian Russian airline, “an important provider of logistical support” to the Russian military, were also sanctioned.
A travel ban, asset freeze, and a ban on providing economic resources were placed on “various Chinese actors supplying drone components and microelectronic components” to Russia, stated the Council.
Some of the targeted entities are located in third countries such as China, India, Iran, Serbia, and the United Arab Emirates, it added. The EU said it “remains ready” to consider “further sanctions.” https://swentr.site/news/609426-eu-slaps-new-sanctions-russia/
"The Timing Is Absolutely Terrible": German Government Collapses Just One Week After French Implosion Just one week after Marine Le Pen precipitated the collapse of the French government, on Monday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the German Parliament on Monday, a defeat that effectively ended the increasingly unpopular government he has led since 2021 and ushered in elections early next year. German lawmakers voted to dissolve the existing government by a vote of 394 to 207, with 116 abstaining. The collapse of the government just nine months before elections had been scheduled was an extraordinary moment for Germany, once Europe's powerhouse but now a laughingstock at the mercy of both China and Russia. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/timing-absolutely-terrible-german-government-collapses-just-one-week-after-french
Monopoly Round-Up: FTC Revives the "Magna Carta of Small Business", The Federal Trade Commission went after the middleman economy.
The big news itself of the week is that the Federal Trade Commission finally attacked illegal price discrimination, after forty years of neglect. The FTC used an old and often neglect antitrust law, the Robinson-Patman Act, to sue a dominant liquor distributor you’ve likely never heard of, a company called Southern Glazer.....Southern Glazer is the tenth largest private company in the U.S., with $26 billion of revenue, and it is the exclusive distributor in certain states of a host of liquors, such as Hennessy, Tanqueray, Bacardi, Captain Morgan, Grey Goose, Jameson, and Johnnie Walker. And the FTC’s allegation is Southern Glazer gives better prices to big stores than small ones.
Since at least 2018 and continuing today, Southern has repeatedly discriminated in price between disfavored independent purchasers—which include neighborhood grocery stores, local convenience stores, and independently owned wine and spirits shops—and favored large chain purchasers of wine and spirits, such as Total Wine & More, Costco, and Kroger.....Price discrimination, like gambling, usury, or even liquor itself, is the kind of political question that used to provoke deep reservoirs of anger and righteousness, a touchstone of the American character.
“Let’s keep Hitler’s methods of government and business in Europe,” said Wright Patman in 1940, noting that consolidation wrought by price discrimination had the potential to turn America fascist. He was not alone. “I would rather have thieves and gangsters than chain stores in Louisiana,” echoed Huey Long. Chain stores, wrote Louis Brandeis in 1933, were “converting independent tradesmen into clerks” and “sapping the resources, the vigor and the hope of the smaller cities and towns.” Former FTC Chair Paul Rand Dixon once said of the law barring price discrimination, “I think it compares favorably with the Magna Carta or the Sherman Act.” https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-round-up-ftc-revives-the
The Global South Is on the Brink of a Disastrous Debt Crisis. Reform Is Urgent.
The coming debt crisis will surpass that of the 1980s and disproportionately impact women, economist Ilene Grabel warns. Countries across the Global South are experiencing climate, poverty and development crises — all made worse by the unbearable costs of debt servicing. Indeed, according to Development Finance International, “Citizens of the Global South now face the worst debt crisis since global records began.” Low-income countries, which have seen the amount paid on foreign debt payment increase by 150 percent since 2011, are being hit especially hard. https://truthout.org/articles/the-global-south-is-on-the-brink-of-a-disastrous-debt-crisis-reform-is-urgent/
Meryl Nass MD forwards this article about US government debanking nonconformists, like Melania Trump. Debanking and the Return of Operation Choke Point/ WSJ today
Allysia Finley provides the backstory to explain the wholesale debanking due to the USG pressuring banks, revealed recently by Marc Andreesen https://merylnass.substack.com/p/debanking-and-the-return-of-operation
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was mercilessly heckled on Monday after a Liberal Party fundraiser at the Canadian Museum of History, as his administration teeters on the verge of collapse. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/youre-done-trudeau-mercilessly-heckled-government-implodes
Caitlin Johnstone on the impression that "wealth" just exists like air and gravity. Peter Thiel Reveals How Scared Oligarchs Are Of The People
..“And to those who think this shooter is a hero, because he did it because he said this healthcare executive is presiding over a healthcare system which kills thousands of Americans by denying them cover, what would you say to them?” Morgan asked.
Thiel paused for a long time, and then stuttered for a long time, and then eventually got out the words, “It’s, I don’t know what, what to say? I, I think I still think you have, you should try to make an argument. And I, I think this is, this is you should, you know, there may be things wrong with our health care system, but you have, you have to make an argument, and you have to try to find a way to convince people and and change, change it by by that, and this is, you know, this is not going to work.” For those who don’t know, Thiel is a proper deep state oligarch who owes his vast fortune to his enmeshment within the US military-intelligence machine. His company Palantir is a CIA-backed surveillance and data mining tech company with intimate ties to both the US intelligence cartel and to Israel, playing a crucial role in both the US empire’s sprawling surveillance network and Israeli atrocities against Palestinians. He backed Trump in 2016, and Vice President-Elect JD Vance was a protégé of his, so this man is thoroughly entrenched in the halls of power... [Thiel KNOWS what people are thinking.]
..As Michael Parenti once put it:
“I tell students when they say, ‘Oh they don’t care what we think. They ignore us’, and all that, and I say, ‘Oh no, no. That’s the only thing they care about you. The only thing they care about you is what you’re thinking. They don’t care if you eat correctly, they don’t care how your living conditions are, they don’t care that they’ve built up an inhuman and irrational traffic system that’s strangulating us and polluting our air, they don’t care about anything. The only thing about you they care about is what you’re thinking. In the morning, they start, ‘What’s going to be the story today? How do we manipulate, how do we control, how do we contain, how do we influence, how do we act upon what it is that they have in their minds?’” https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/peter-thiel-reveals-how-scared-oligarchs
Yves Smith:
Tom Neuburger gives a wonderfully subversive argument as to why our CEOs and other overlords deserve only the very best in security.Why CEOs and the Very Rich Should Receive Enhanced Protection
New Crisis Hotline for CEOs? Governor of New York wants to protect CEOs
Simplicius has lots of updates as Ukraine waits for the ground to freeze for a last, mysterious winter-offensive. Negotiations Talk Curdles as Ukraine Loses More Territory
..Despite claims Gerasimov had spoken to head of Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown and that ATACMS strikes subsequently immediately stopped on Russian territory, Ukraine in fact launched another ATACMS strike on Taganrog, between Mariupol and Rostov...
..Either way, the MOD claimed negligible damage as the ATACMS were reportedly both shot down and deflected by EW.Trump has now stated allowing ATACMS to be launched into Russia was a big mistake.....Now as we get closer and closer to Trump’s term, Ukraine scrambles for any propaganda edge possible. There are now even rumors that Zelensky plans to launch another ‘Christmas offensive’ into some remote part of the Russian border—perhaps Bryansk, or elsewhere in Belgorod region. There are ‘claims’ of Ukrainian buildups with photos of a new “tactical sign” on vehicles...
..The new 150-series reserve brigades Zelensky was putting together for future operations have been marred with problems. A new report highlighted how 1000 men have already deserted the 155th of this series, not to mention confirming that the brigades have already been utilized merely to fill gaps in critical areas of the Donbass.....Russia on the other hand is also rumored to be building up new strike forces in the Zaporozhye direction.....Trump seeks to shift militarily to Asia, with Ukraine being left as Europe’s problem—a Europe too politically divided to stand any chance of guaranteeing or securing anything...
..A Foreign Policy article again demonstrates that Ukraine has no agency when it comes to its masters... The author argues for the US to negotiate with Russia on Ukraine’s behalf, lest Zelensky and co. prematurely set fire to the negotiations with unrealistic demands.
It further admits both sides have issues that are non-starters and the negotiations are unlikely to work anyway. For Russia, the stationing of foreign ‘peacekeeping troops’ is just as bad or worse than Ukraine joining NATO. And for Ukraine, the US forcing the AFU to abandon currently held territory in Zaporozhye, Kherson, etc., which Russia demands as part of its terms will be an impossible ask.....On the front, Russian forces continue to make gains, including in Zaporozhye where the larger claimed offensive is set to debut...
..Lastly, there are gains in Kursk as well, but it is far more slow going because Zelensky continues to pump this salient with the most reserves, not to mention best trained and most experienced troops. As such, Russia is suffering much larger losses in Kursk than many other areas, but it still likely pales in comparison to Ukraine’s losses.....Some may ask, by the way, why North Korean troops are necessary in Kursk if Russia is doing ‘so well’ with troop replenishment. And it is a good question, but my personal take is that the potential North Korean contingents don’t have as much to do with troop replenishment as they do with Russia cementing and formalizing the strategic partnership agreements with North Korea as a show of force against NATO. It is Russia’s way of showcasing the deepening of ties as deterrent, as if to send a message: see, if you invade us, we will stand together and become your worst nightmare...
..Secondly, the North Korean troops could have very well been sent at Kim’s request, not Russia’s. That’s because Kim—seeing the buildup of provocations and aggression against North Korea—was likely interested in getting real life combat experience for his own troops, so that they can return and seed it all back into the DPRK’s larger military structure...
EU’s top diplomats to ‘fight’ over Ukraine arms supply “A big fight” is looming in Brussels on Monday over the allocation of billions of euros earmarked to arm Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has warned... They “want to free up more than €6 billion” to purchase arms for Ukraine, Szijjarto wrote on Facebook, before the meeting began.
“Even the approach of Christmas cannot dampen the mood of war,” he claimed. “Even with the possibility of a Christmas ceasefire and mass prisoner exchanges on the table,” the EU’s top diplomats will nevertheless discuss further arming Ukraine, he lamented. https://swentr.site/news/609423-eus-top-diplomats-fight-ukraine-weapons/
"Always accuse your opponent of what you are doing." What we know about Russian general killed in Moscow blast
Kiev declared Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov a suspect in alleged use of chemical weapons against its forces
Here’s what is known about Kirillov:
From September 2014 to April 2017, he served as the head of the Military Academy of the RChBZ named after Marshal of the Soviet Union Semyon Timoshenko.
In April 2017, Kirillov became the chief of the RChBZ troops.
Kirillov dealt with anti-terrorism both domestically and abroad. He exposed the provocations of the controversial White Helmets volunteer organization in Syria, and participated in mitigating the consequences of natural and man-made disasters.
Since the beginning of the military operation against Ukraine in February 2022, Kirillov has spoken at briefings held by the Ministry of Defense, where he shared information about Ukrainian developments in the areas of radiological, chemical, and biological weapons. In March 2022, he announced that Ukrainian biolaboratories were studying the potential for transferring highly dangerous infections through migratory birds.
The same month, Kirillov presented copies of documents that, according to him, confirmed the Pentagon’s funding of biological laboratories in Ukraine.
In June 2024, Kirillov stated that spent nuclear fuel and hazardous chemical waste were being imported into Ukraine for a potential “dirty bomb” creation. He added that radiochemical substances were still being brought into Ukraine for disposal. According to him, these supplies were overseen by Andrey Yermak, Vladimir Zelensky’s right-hand man, with primary routes passing through Poland and Romania.
In October 2024, the UK slapped Kirillov with sanctions after he accused Ukraine of preparing a false-flag chemical weapons attack with the aim of framing Russia and undermining its position at the OPCW. Kirillov noted that NATO had provided Ukraine with a much larger amount of chemical protective equipment than the country actually needs, calling it further evidence of an impending plot.
In November 2024, Kirillov said that Ukraine planned to seize a nuclear power plant during its large-scale incursion into the Kursk Region.
Kirillov was killed in the blast one day after Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) formally declared him a suspect in the alleged use of chemical weapons against Kiev’s military. The general rejected claims that Russia had been attacking Ukraine with riot control agents and chemical weapons, recalling that the OPCW had confirmed the complete destruction of all Russian chemical weapons stockpiles in 2017. https://swentr.site/russia/609471-kirillov-explosive-blast-key-takeaways/
Türkiye behind Syria regime change – Trump Türkiye is behind the regime change in Syria, US President-elect Donald Trump claimed on Monday in his first press briefing since the November election. Trump called the overthrow of Bashar Assad and his government an “unfriendly takeover” by Ankara.....“Those people that went in are controlled by Türkiye, and that’s OK,” Trump stated. He added that he considers Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “smart” and “very tough” guy for succeeding in the overthrow of the Syrian leadership.
“[Türkiye] wanted [Syria] for thousands of years, and he got it… Türkiye did an unfriendly takeover without a lot of lives being lost,” Trump added. He also praised what he described as Türkiye’s “major military force” which “has not been worn out with war.”...
..“Nobody knows what the final outcome is going to be in the region. Nobody knows who will rule in the final... Right now, Syria has a lot of indefinites, but I think Türkiye is going to hold the key to Syria,” the president-elect predicted. https://swentr.site/news/609469-turkiye-syria-regime-change-trump/
Turkiye masses troops on Syria border, invasion 'imminent' https://thecradle.co/articles/turkiye-masses-troops-on-syria-border-invasion-imminent-report
Trump says he wants to talk to Putin. The incoming US president has refused to comment on whether any contact with the Kremlin has already taken place https://swentr.site/news/609500-trump-talk-putin-ukraine/
US affirms Türkiye’s right to go after PKK but dodges questions on YPG
State Department says it understands Türkiye’s ‘legitimate’ right to go after PKK terrorist organization but adds its Syrian branch the SDF plays ‘important role’ in fighting Daesh/ISIS https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-affirms-turkiye-s-right-to-go-after-pkk-but-dodges-questions-on-ypg/3426286
Alastair Crooke, A new geo-political map is unfolding – The end of Syria (and of “Palestine” for now)
Syria has entered the abyss – the demons of al-Qa’eda, ISIS, and the most intransigent elements of the Muslim Brotherhood are circling the skies. There is chaos, looting, fear, and a terrible passion for revenge scalds the blood. Street executions are rife.
Maybe Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and its leader, Al-Joulani, (following Turkish instruction), thought to control things. But HTS is an umbrella label like Al-Qa’eda, ISIS and An-Nusra, and its factions have already descended into factional fighting...
Syria no longer exists as a geo-political entity. In the east, Kurdish forces (with U.S. military support) are seizing the oil and agricultural resources of the former state. Erdogan’s forces and proxies are engaged in an attempt to crush the Kurdish enclave completely (although the U.S. has now mediated a ceasefire of sorts). And in the south-west, Israeli tanks have seized the Golan and land beyond to within 20 kms of Damascus. In 2015 the Economist magazine wrote: “Black gold under the Golan: Geologists in Israel think they have found oil – in very tricky territory”. Israeli and American oilmen believe they have discovered a bonanza in this most inconvenient of sites.....As powerful states in the region, Israel and Turkey will wish to exercise control not just over resources, but over the vital regional crossroads and passageway that was Syria. Inevitably however, ‘Greater Israel’ is likely, at some point, to butt heads with Erdogan’s Ottomanesque revanchism...
..Moscow likely will draw the conclusion that ceasefire ‘deals’ such as the Astana Agreement on jihadist containment within the boundaries of the Idlib autonomous zone in Syria are not worth the paper on which they were written. Türkiye – an Astana guarantor – stabbed Moscow in the back.....Iran seemingly, will revert to its earlier stance of gathering together the disparate threads of regional resistance to fight the Al-Qa’eda reincarnation. It will not turn its back on China, nor the BRICS project. Iraq – recalling the ISIS atrocities of its civil war – will join with Iran, as will Yemen. Iran will be aware that the remaining nodes of the former Syrian Army might well, at some point, enter into the fight against the HTS cartel. Maher Al-Assad took his entire armoured division with him into exile in Iraq on the night of Bashar Al-Assad’s departure.
China will not be pleased at events in Syria. The Uyghurs played a prominent part in the Syria uprising (there were an estimated 30,000 Uyghurs in Idlib, under training by Türkiye (which sees Uyghurs as the original component of the Turkic nation)...
..Western interests have been fighting over Middle Eastern resources for centuries – and ultimately that is what lies behind the war today.
Is he, or isn’t he, pro-war, people ask about Trump, since he has already signalled that energy dominance will be a key strategy for his Administration.....The Anglo-Americans would love to have Iran’s oil again – as they did until the 1970s – to collateralise and build a new money system tied to the real value inherent in commodities.
But Trump says he wants to ‘end wars’ and not start them. Does the re-drawing of the geo-political map make some global entente between east and west more, or less, likely? ...
..Seemingly, Trump has to secure the domestic ‘deal’ first, before he will know whether he has the scope for foreign policy deals.
It seems that the Ruling Structures (notably the ‘Never-Trump’ element in the Senate) will allow Trump considerable latitude on key nominations for domestic Departments and Agencies that manage U.S. political and economic affairs (which is Trump’s key concern) – and will also permit a certain discretion on, shall we say, the ‘warfare’ Departments that targeted Trump over the last years, such as the FBI and the Department of Justice.
The putative ‘deal’ seems to be that his nominations will still need to undergo Senate confirmation and must broadly be ‘on-side’ with Inter-Agency foreign policy (notably on Israel).
The Inter-Agency grandees, however, reportedly insist on their veto over nominations affecting the deepest structures of foreign policy. And therein lies the crux of matters. https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/12/16/new-geo-political-map-unfolding-the-end-syria-and-palestine-for-now/
The U.S. Strategy of Controlled Anarchy: Syria, Ukraine, and Beyond MICHAEL HUDSON: Well, the bigger picture is that, as you say, it’s much bigger than Syria. The United States says, “We are ending up with total war with Russia and with China.”
Russia is saying, “We hope that there’s peace in the Near East.”
China is saying, “We want peace. We don’t want war.”
I don’t understand why they’re saying this. Why don’t they say, “We realize that this is a war to the death.”
Russia talks about a proportional response, certainly in Ukraine, for instance.So if there’s just an attack and bomb, it will have a proportional response.
But what’s the real proportion at work? The proportion is the Cold War. “We want to control the whole world. We want to break up Russia into parts. We want to break up China into parts. And we’re going to make step after step after step until there’s a response.”
And the fact is, the Americans, if you’re a general, the Americans, you never know how far you can push until somebody else pushes back. And there really hasn’t been any pushback. And if you’re told by Russia that there is a proportional response, then Russia and the Americans and NATO can do whatever they want, step up and step up and know that there will only be a response to the local tactic, not to the overall strategy.
I don’t see any strategy on the part of NATO.
Well, your question is about Syria. And obviously, the whole country is now in motion. There really isn’t any Syria anymore, much as there probably won’t be a Ukraine anymore. You see Israel taking Western Syria. You see Turkey taking the Kurdish areas and what it can.
And the Americans saying, well, we’re taking all the oil to give to Israel, is our agreement.
You have the leaders of the ISIS al-Qaeda group wearing T-shirts made by Mossad. Apparently people have seen that.
So this has completely cut off Lebanon from support by Iran. I don’t know what Iran is thinking.
Probably Saudi Arabia is thinking, well, they’re really trying to grab the whole Near East. Maybe we should be very careful about joining BRICS and threatening to move our assets out of the dollar because we could be next.
America has turned on one so-called ally after another, you know, starting with Saddam Hussein, who was put in by the CIA originally, just all the way rest.
It looks like the U.S plan to take over all of the Near East and its oil is working, using Israel as its battering ram for that. Israel will get the land. America will get the oil and control of that. And that’s sort of the, it looks like the division of labor.
Now, what does all this mean for BRICS and for Russia and China? They’ve talked about having alternatives to the dollar, de-dollarization. They’ve been talking about having alternative institutions to the International Monetary Fund in the World Bank. But the question is now, do they need an alternative institution to NATO? Do they need some kind of coordinated military plan?
I can understand Russia not intervening in Syria at all because Assad was utterly incompetent, utterly rigid. He refused, he refused to make any kind of accommodation to anybody else. He was almost a nutcase.
And the Russians quite properly said, well, if the Syrian army will not fight, we’re not going to send our army into there because this really isn’t our fight. If we can keep our naval bases and our air bases there, that’s all we care about. Russia can lose Syria and it’s not serious. It’s not vital to them.
But what is vital is the United States being able to now move against Iran.
You’d think that China that gets a lot of oil from Iran would be worried and have some desire to intervene in the area. But China is sitting it out. And so the Americans think, well, we can pick off one country after another, one area after another. And it’s more than salami style. We’re now going in big chunks, much more than salami. I don’t know what a good medical or culinary metaphor there would be. But everything’s up in motion and all of the initiative is in NATO.
Russia and China have said, we will only react. We won’t act. We will react. And they’re not reacting. I don’t know what to make of that. I just, I don’t think anyone can foresee what’s going to happen in Syria, because all these myriad of special interests are now going to be fighting among themselves.
And even within the jihadis, one jihad group will fight against the other. And I’m sure they’ll be set against each other by the American and Israeli and British interveners. So it’s anarchy.
Anarchy is what the U.S. plan is. That’s U.S. foreign policy, to back terrorists everywhere and make it impossible for other regions to have a reasonable response.
And you’d think that the British countries would try to have an alternative to anarchy. I don’t see any alternative in sight. So I think the anarchy is going to continue moving further and further eastward. https://michael-hudson.com/2024/12/the-u-s-strategy-of-controlled-anarchy-syria-ukraine-and-beyond/
US Conducts New Strikes In Syria & Yemen, Still With No Congressional Authorization https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-conducts-new-strikes-syria-yemen-still-no-congressional-authorization
Russia defended its Syrian ally despite Al Qaeda’s siege It is important to remember that the economic crisis, foreign sanctions and the lack of satisfactory reforms had created precarious conditions in the Syrian army. Syrian generals had extremely low salaries, of just a few tens of dollars, which explains why they were easily co-opted by foreign powers.
There was a betrayal of Assad, but it came from within Syria itself, not from external allies like Russia or Iran. Several factors could explain this. Assad had recently begun to engage with Gulf powers, traditional rivals of Iran, who pressured Syria to reduce foreign military presence. Some Syrian generals supported this narrative, creating pressure that limited Assad’s ability to seek further Russian and Iranian assistance during the terrorist offensive.
Numerous videos have surfaced showing Syrian soldiers frustrated that they were prohibited from fighting. Ordinary soldiers were ready to defend the country against Al Qaeda, but their commanders ordered them not to engage. There is enough evidence to support the claim that the betrayal of Assad came from within the Syrian military, with possible connections to external actors, including Turkey and the Gulf states.
From Russia’s perspective, aside from its commitment to traditional allies, there were pragmatic reasons to protect Assad. A pro-Russian Syria prevented the construction of a Qatari-Turkish gas pipeline that could have supplied Europe. Additionally, Russian military bases in Syria allowed Moscow to secure a strategic foothold in the Mediterranean and maintain a balanced relationship with Turkey.
More importantly, Russia had security concerns. Al Qaeda fighters in Syria had received training from Ukrainian instructors and were equipped with Western weapons from aid packages to Kiev. The HTS also included a significant number of Salafist mercenaries from Central Asia. Russia faces significant security risks from terrorist infiltration among Central Asian immigrant groups, making the return of war experienced terrorists from Syria a serious concern.
It was not in Russia’s interest to allow these experienced terrorists to return to Central Asia, nor to see the Kiev regime benefit from military reinforcements from Wahhabi militias that had fought in Syria. Had Assad remained in power and defeated the terrorists, these risks would have been minimized. https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/12/14/russia-defended-its-syrian-ally-despite-al-qaeda-siege/
Assad says he didn't intend to leave Syria, statement claims In it he says that, as the Syrian capital fell to rebels, he went to a Russian military base in Latakia province "to oversee combat operations" only to see that Syrian troops had abandoned positions. Hmeimim airbase had also come under "intensified attack by drone strikes" and the Russians had decided to airlift him to Moscow, he says. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yd0zz5edqo
Russia warns Israel against annexing Golan Heights
Russia, Germany, Turkey Condemn Israeli Land Grab In Syria https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russia-germany-turkey-condemn-israeli-land-grab-syria
Media Mobs RFK. Jr Upon Arrival To Capitol Hill Screaming Out Provocations Demanding He Bless The Polio 'Vaccine,' Abortion, Vaxx School Mandates, or Vaccines Not. Being Cause Of Autism. Trump Says He Is A 'Big Believer' In Polio Vaccines, And That RFK Jr. Will Be "Much Less Radical Than You Think." https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/media-mobs-rfk-jr-upon-arrival-to
Pfizer mRNA 'Vaccinated' Children Significantly More Likely to Get COVID-19 Than Unvaccinated Peers
New study finds Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 'vaccinated' children are 159% more likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 and 257% more likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19 than unvaccinated peers. https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/pfizer-mrna-vaccinated-children-significantly
Celia Farber,
Biden Extends Liability Protection For Pfizer and Moderns For Covid Injection Damage or Deaths Until 2029—In The Wake Of RFK Jr. Saying He Is Exploring Removing These Protections They Sure Need A Lot Of Protections For A Bunch of People Whose Products Are "Perfectly Safe." https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/biden-extends-liability-protection
Professor Anthony Hall, Dr. William Makis In the Spotlight
Alberta's Dr. Makis is Emerging as a World Expert on the Role of mRNA Shots and the Growing Plague of Turbo Cancers. Why Can't Our Canadian Authorities Support Him in This Vital Work? https://anthonyjhall.substack.com/p/dr-william-makis-in-the-spotlight
President-elect Donald Trump called on the government to provide more information to the public on the drone situation.
"Our military knows, and our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense," he said during remarks at Mar-a-Lago on Monday. "Something strange is going on and for some reason they don't want to tell the people. And they should."
When asked by a reporter if he had received an intelligence briefing on the drones, Trump said, "I don't want to comment on that."
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby pushed back on Trump's characterization of the government's knowledge of drone sightings, telling reporters Monday that the government is not "obfuscating" any information. https://abcnews.go.com/US/east-coast-drones-latest-somethings-new-jersey-mayor/story?id=116820553
West’s mask is off in fight for the soul of humanity – Roger Waters “Criminal lunatics” in the West want to bring about a future in which genocide is permitted, and it’s up to people who don’t agree with that to make a stand, Pink Floyd frontman and human rights activist Roger Waters has said. The rock legend is well known for his support of the Palestinian cause and criticism of Israel and its supporters. https://swentr.site/news/609412-waters-going-underground-interview/
Temporary Carbon Sink (pictured early morning with collard greens, before planting onion sets)
