I’m finally watching BAND OF BROTHERS for the first time. Was waiting for the right moment. Yes it’s very good. Does it deserve to repeatedly be the highest rated show of all time (IMDB 9.4), I cant say either way with conviction. Rating art is so transitory. We see something that deeply moves us and we immediately want to rate it a 10 and exclaim “that’s the best show of all time!” Six months later we’re saying the same thing about another show.
I believe the long-standing hype over BOB is due to the fact that it isn’t just a piece of momentary fiction somebody penned and had filmed like the other contenders in the top 5, all fanboy extremism and fantasy experiences come to life (we all know their names… but for those who don’t, The Wire, Breaking Bad and The Sopranos all consistently fight for the top spots; none of them I even believe belong in the top 5 to be honest. I’m not a fan of glorifying gangsters liars and theives.
Don’t get me wrong. From an artistic point of view i get the temptation. And even the lure as an audience member. Breaking the laws, administrative or ethical, is an easier road for our protagonists to travel. Successes are easier to come by. That makes it an easy way out for authors and screenwriters, and a more extreme experience for the audience. If there are obstacles in the way for our anti-hero, just have them kill somebody. Easy. And that sums up the IMDB Top Five TV category except for the subject of this post. (I’m omitting nature docs for obvious reasons… but questioning the decision.)
Band Of Brothers is different. There is no imaginary depraved antihero. Only heroes. Heroes galore. The show is securely based on real life. And it feels like real life. It’s a history that gets farther and farther away from us. It feels so far away now.
We haven’t had a generation like The Great Generation since then. From my own Gen X on down, the world we live in has consistently produced generations weaker, more selfish and more disinterested in service to greater causes.
Some may disagree and tout the work we’ve done to fight climate change or MeToo or BLM through the years, but compare that to charging a battlefield full of angry Germans with guns grenades and tanks aimed at you with the full knowledge that you or ten others are surely going to die in the next ten minutes. Psh. I’ll say it. It’s easy to commit yourself to noble causes from the comfort of your own home or out in the streets. Compared to going to war.
The whole time I’m watching BOB I’m in awe of these men. My skin has goosebumps. Their heart and souls so courageous and single minded. And I’m filled with gratitude. Brought to tears with gratitude. For the sacrifices these men made for us, for Europe, for the world, for humanity.
World War II was in fact a battle of nations. And that’s how we frame it for contextual understanding. But from the top of the pyramid, one clearly sees WW II, as with many wars but not all, was a war for the ideologies that would rule and guide every almost human on earth for generations. It was very simply put a battle for freedom. A fight between autocratic imperialism and fascism versus democracy, and most likely free market capitalism.
And if it weren’t for these men, this generation, our lives would be very very different. Our kids… the horror… would we even have kids in a world ruled by an imperial Japan and a fascist Germany? Who knows. Glad we never had to test it.
It’s easy to see why Band Of Brothers has been so popular and well-rated for 20+ years. In my opinion it should be required viewing for everyone. Not just here — for surely we owe this generation a debt of gratitude we can never repay and need to know it, and to help sow a seed in the minds of everyone how far away we drifted from this level of commitment to the greater good that lasts beyond our own life, but also in places like China Iran Arabia Afghanistan Russia. The instinctive drive and passion for real freedom. The willingness to do anything to get it.
I am often taken to day-dreaming about our Iranian or Arabian brothers and sisters, anyone living in an Islamic led country really, and my thoughts often quickly land on “I do NOT understand why they subsist in such subhuman conditions for so long and don’t rise up to fight and topple that regime and demand freedom and democracy…”.
It’s something I ponder constantly. Of course that ideology has been bred into us here in the States. We cannot help but think that. It’s been hard-indoctrinated for 200+ years into us. I often wonder if we’ll abide by it when the time comes in our own country.
And we take freedom for granted. Not to say we aren’t thankful for it. We are. Those of us born into it. It’s a given. But our Iranian Chinese Russian et al brethren have never been free. God. Consider it.
The Russian people have never lived free. Just a consistent changing of the dictators in charge with anew name of the system. The Chinese people have never lived without a deep seeded, traumatizing fear of being thrown into a concentration camp if they “do something wrong”. And our Islamic brothers and sisters… well that’s nothing less than hell on earth. Still. After thousands of years. Never free for even one day. God that’s disturbing. I am moved to stillness now thinking of it. Their tragic plight. Simply because of where they were born. And how blessed we are. Simply because of where we were born.
Meantime… Band Of Brothers has got a hold on me. Dominating my thoughts, theses and theories for now. It provides a lot to chew on. It’s substantive. Not throw away. It’ll stay a long time. Grateful.
World War III Watch — Week Of May 24 to June 6 2023
Chinese warship cuts off US Navy ship, marking 2nd military provocation in week
By Luis Martinez June 4, 2023, 6:14 AM ET • 7 min read. In the second major provocation by China’smilitary in the span of a week, a Chinese warship carried out what the U.S. military called “an unsafe maritime interaction” when it crossed an American warship’s bow at a distance of 150 yards forcing the U.S. Navy destroyer to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision.
AI Godfather Yoshua Bengio Feels Lost Over Life’s Work
One of the so-called “godfathers” of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has said he would have prioritised safety over usefulness had he realised the pace at which it would evolve. The computer scientist’s comments come after experts in AI said it could lead to the extinction of humanity.
NASA UFO Team Holds Public Meeting Ahead of Report
Xi Jinping tells China’s national security chiefs to prepare for ‘worst case’ scenarios
Hong Kong (CNN) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called on his top national security officials to think about “worst case” scenarios and prepare for “stormy seas,” as the ruling Communist Party hardens efforts to counter any perceived internal and external threats. “The complexity and difficulty of the national security issues we now face have increased significantly,” Xi said Tuesday at a meeting of the party’s National Security Commission, state news agency Xinhua reported. (Click title to read more)
World War Three is far more likely than anyone is prepared to admit
New weapons and our failure to understand our enemies are raising the chances of a horrific conflict. We have been remarkably lucky so far. Human beings invented nuclear weapons 77 years ago, but haven’t used them to slaughter each other since Nagasaki. We created long-range rockets, as Vladimir Putin reminded us again last week when he unveiled his Satan II Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, but have avoided using them to annihilate our rivals’ cities. We are playing with genetic engineering, space travel, AI, and even enhancing the virulence of some pathogens, but have yet to deliberately use any of these technologies for mass warfare. …
World War III Begins With Forgetting
In March, as President Biden was facing pressure to intensify U.S. involvement in Ukraine, he responded by invoking the specter of World War III four times in one day. “Direct conflict between NATO and Russia is World War III,” he said, “something we must strive to prevent.” He underscored the point hours later: “The idea that we’re going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews — just understand, and don’t kid yourself, no matter what you all say, that’s called World War III, OK?”
Are we on the brink of World War Three?
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is warning today of the risks of a “tragic miscalculation” in the Indo-Pacific and will urge Beijing to be open about its “biggest military build-up in peacetime history”.Others fear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – the largest military conflict in Europe since the Second World War – poses an equally high geopolitical risk. And Ukraine and China are not the only potential flashpoints involving major powers around the globe.North Korea’s recent vows to expand its nuclear stockpile has also increased fears of a global conflict. Hours into the New Year, supreme leader Kim Jung Un called for an “exponential increase” in his regime’s nuclear arsenal, in a sign of “deepening animosity” towards the US, South Korea and Japan, said The Guardian. Uncertainty also surrounds efforts to stop Iran from joining the nuclear club.
The ‘New Nostradamus’ reveals the date of World War III and its link to Taiwan
As the seer said, World War III will begin in 2023 and it will all start in Taiwan, known to be the cause of conflicts with China, as they have a tense relationship that has been growing increasingly heated in recent months. According to Hamilton-Parker, it will be triggered by the collision of two aircraft or submarines, which will set off a series of events.”I have said for some time that there is a conflict coming over Taiwan, which I think will happen in 2023,” he explained on his YouTube channel.
Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine Is a ‘World War’ With No ‘End’ in Sight: Pope
Pope Francis delivered a grim prediction over the weekend about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, classifying the conflict as a “world war” that won’t see an “end” for some time.
Are We Headed for World War III?
Students discuss the threat of China invading Taiwan, the war in Ukraine and polarizing domestic politics. March 21, 2023 at 6:43 pm ET Wall Street Journal
Did Alexa ‘Predict’ World War III Start Date in Viral Video?
A viral video purports to show Amazon assistant Alexa giving the exact date for a Russian attack on Germany that it says will mark the beginning of the new World War.”World War III starts on November 23, 2023 at 6:05pm, when Russia launches an attack against Germany,” the voice-activated gadget appears to say, in response to a question about the start of World War III. The video, or versions of it, have been shared on TikTok and on Twitter, with just one postgathering more than 200,000 engagements in just a day.
World War III Is ‘Already Underway,’ Russian Journalist Claims
A prominent Russian journalist said that “World War III is already underway” during a recent televised discussion about Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
Russia Says Likelihood of Nuclear Weapons Being Used Growing by the Day
AI poses ‘risk of extinction’ on par with nukes, tech leaders say (Washington Post)
Hundreds of artificial intelligence scientists and tech executives signed a one-sentence letter that succinctly warns AI poses an existential threat to humanity, the latest example of a growing chorus of alarms raised by the very people creating the technology.
“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” according to the statement released Tuesday by the nonprofit Center for AI Safety.
World War III Watch — May 2 – 24, 2023
Chinese Malware Hits Systems on Guam. Is Taiwan the Real Target?
The code, which Microsoft said was installed by a Chinese government hacking group, set off alarms because Guam would be a centerpiece of any U.S. military response to a move against Taiwan.
US response to Putin using nuclear weapons would put us at the ‘doorstep of World War III’ — Skynews.com.au
Curtin University political analyst Professor Joe Siracusa says America’s response to if Russian President Vladimir Putin used tactical nuclear weapons would “put us right at the doorstep of World War III”.
Professor Siracusa’s remarks come after the United States decided to allow the allies to supply F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv.
“I believe that President Putin is very seriously considering his options – one of them might be a tactical nuclear weapon,” he told Sky News Australia.
“I heard in Europe last week that what would be the American response if President Putin actually used tactical nuclear weapons.
“The word I heard was that the Pentagon has informed the Kremlin through backchannels that the United States would respond with a massive conventional attack on the Russian Black Fleet which of course would put us right at the doorstep of World War III.”
With Ban on Micron, China Escalates Microchip Clash With U.S.
A Chinese government block on Micron Technology’s memory chips marks how far apart the two economic powers, the United States and China, are drifting on tech policy.
“The Chinese government barred companies that handle critical information from buying microchips made by the Boise, Idaho-based Micron. The company’s chips, which are used for memory storage in all kinds of electronics, like phones and computers, were deemed to pose “relatively serious cybersecurity problems” by China’s internet watchdog after a review.”
China’s $23 Trillion Debt Mess Is About To Get Much Worse
Could be something. Could be nothing. 23 trillion dollars is a lot money. Worse if it’s a country’s debt. Coincidentally it also happens to be just about the same amount as the United States national debt. Countries do crazy things when their debt begins to outweigh their fiscal ability to pay it back, as is and has been the case for the US for a few years now. Truth is, the United States will never be able to pay down its debt. Hell, they won’t even be able to make their annual interest payments on said debt, a disturbing fact that the majority of Americans don’t know, haven’t even thought about, but everyone in government does and has. Obsessively. By far one of the most worrisome aspects of keeping the nation alive without going to war. China, the second largest economy on planet earth is quickly joining the U.S. in regards to its own national debt. Not a cheery or hopeful piece of news.
This Wall Street Journal article below is slightly major. Not unlike many events we’ve observed around the world over the last few months regarding a potentially impending global military conflict. Are we going to wake up tomorrow and see the news flooded with reports about a world war breaking out somewhere? No, definitely not. But the fact that China, Russia and the U.S. are willing to play tit for tat and even attempt to outdo each other in cold war styled retaliations or unprovoked attacks on one another or even make an involuntary mistake that causes major but unintended consequences is enough to raise the hair on the back of your neck. In other words it continues to escalate, as the leaders of said countries continue to wave and smile as if nothing is going on is disturbing. Click link to read whole article
China Puts Spymaster in Charge of U.S. Corporate Crackdown
By Lingling Wei. May 18, 2023, 11:06 am EDT
China’s crackdown on overseas firms has made clear that leader Xi Jinping values security over economic growth. To eradicate any doubt, according to people familiar with the matter, he has put state-security czar Chen Yixin in charge.
The campaign, which has included raids on Chinese offices of U.S. due-diligence firms and questioning of staff at the Bain consulting firm, is sending shock waves across global businesses.
Italy has signaled to the US that it intends to pull out of a controversial Chinese Belt and Road Investment Pact before the end of the year. Read Bloomberg Article Here
For the United States and other Allied Nation Coalition countries the above is good news. Italy is the only G7 country involved in China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative. It’s controversial because it’s a clear play to become the world’s largest most powerful superpower by offering free money, infrastructure, buildings, transportation systems, airports, railways, skyscrapers, basically anything a country could want or need to conduct business. (To learn more about Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, something everyone should have a knowledge and understanding of, click here.) In return they would indirectly if not overtly owe a debt to China. And in the meantime China would have yet more transportation routs and trade deals all over the world, guaranteeing it to be the worlds largest economy and business entity in the world. Italy exiting the deal would be a good thing for those not wanting to see the world too communist. Though what it might inspire China to feel, knowing it was pressure by the United States that compelled Italy’s move, is up in their air. They certainly won’t feel good about it. But overall, good news.
BREAKING: Imran Khan: Ex-PM arrested outside court in Pakistan https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-65531648
Polarized Politics Are Tearing Pakistan Apart — Its economy is on the brink, society is politically polarised, millions are still recovering from last year’s devastating floods, terror attacks are increasing and, as inflation soars ever higher, many are struggling to feed themselves and their children.
Two More American Regional Banks On Verge Of Collapse — Marking Three This Week, Six In Last Three Months
BREAKING: After the news that First Republic Bank was failing earlier this week, its limited assets being picked up up JP Morgan for Pennie’s on the dollar, it appears that two more may be soon to follow, Pac West $PACW which has lost 61% of its value in After Hours trading and trading today, and Western Alliance $WAL, which is now down 62% so far today. Both companies’ stocks have been halted numerous times already today. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp $MCB and Zions Bank $ZION have also been halted because they too are sinking fast on the open market.
ONGOING BREAKING: Western Alliance is denying the articles… If true, this is good news.
World War III Watch — Week Of April 24, 2023
First Republic Bank Is Seized, Sold to JPMorgan in Second-Largest U.S. Bank Failure In History and the Third U.S. Bank To Go Bankrupt In the Last Three Months
By Rachel Louise Ensign and Ben Eisen Updated May 1, 2023, 4:35 am EDT for Wall Street Journal — https://apple.news/ATrZqns0MTaenbR5eQBFtJw
As I’ve stated in previous posts, although financial and economic news doesn’t immediately inspire images of a “world war” to the mind and senses as much as overtly war-like conflict events, these events may pose more of a threat to global peace than military skirmishes in Ukraine or Taiwan or Syria et al. The working theory being that countries accustomed to decades of peace and prosperity, as we’ve had on planet earth for decades now, may and usually will do everything they can to de-escalate military conflicts to avoid large multinational wars, even when attacked in some way — consider the American journalist just captured and imprisoned by Russia in the last few weeks…, or consider the absolute clusterfu+*k of America’s embarrassing escape out of Afghanistan after 20+ years of fighting and then handing it right back over to The Taliban… all those lives lost…. But no world war…. but when economic desperation sets in in a country, watch out — all cards are off the table and a nation’s typical reaction is to lean hard right nationalistic, start chest thumping about “national pride” and “protecting the homeland from foreign threats” and before we know it, someone somewhere does something to what they perceive as a weaker someone and off to war we go. Despite what they say it’s always economically and financially motivated. They need. And when someone needs, all bets of diplomacy or compromise are off. The United States sadly, as many nations around the world, is facing some scary impending economic consequences. We’re just not talking about it yet. (Insert the potential commercial real estate debt crash that is being discussed under the radar at the moment; if you’re aware of it…..). That’s why this sudden trend of large regional banks going bellyup is important.
Concerns Grow as Tighter Lending Threatens $20 Trillion Commercial Real Estate Market
By Ephrat Livni for the New York Times April 6, 2023
The recent banking turmoil added scrutiny to a sector already weighed down by office vacancies, rising interest rates and mounting debt. The turmoil that drove Silicon Valley Bankand Signature Bank out of business last month, rocking the wider banking sector, has analysts bracing for the next possible crisis: the $20 trillion commercial real estate market. Read whole article here
Russian pilots tried to ‘dogfight’ US jets over Syria, US Central Command says
By Oren Liebermann, CNN — https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/29/europe/russia-fighter-pilots-dogfight-us-jets-syria-intl-hnk
US risky business in China
Doing business in China has never been straightforward. But now it’s becoming dangerous for (some) American companies.
On Wednesday, Chinese cops raided the Shanghai offices of US consulting firm Bain, questioning local employees and taking away computers and phones. No explanation was given by the police or the Boston-based firm, but the search was carried out the same day that China expanded its espionage law, giving authorities greater powers to inspect premises and digital devices of local businesses. (This comes a month after China arrested five Americans working at the due-diligence firm Mintz and shut down its Beijing HQ.)
These episodes highlight the increasingly risky environment for US businesses operating in China. As US-China relations get frostier, a whopping 87% of US execs surveyed by the AmCham industry group say they’re pessimistic about the future. [From GZERO MEDIA]
Paraguay holds presidential election with geopolitical ripples
Paraguayans go to the polls Sunday to pick their next president. Domestically, the big story is whether centrist opposition leader Efraín Alegre can beat Santiago Peña from the right-wing Colorado Party, which has almost monopolized power since the country ditched military rule in 1989. But there are also two geopolitical angles to keep an eye on.
First, the election is being closely watched in Taipei and Beijing. If he wins, Alegre has suggested he might switch diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China — meaning that the self-ruled island would lose its last friend in South America. The presidential candidate believes that Taiwan has not invested enough in Paraguay to offset the immense cost of not doing business with China, so he’s made it clear to Tsai Ing-wen: Show us the money or we’ll call Xi Jinping. [From GZERO MEDIA]
First Republic Bank Teeters on the Brink of Collapse — [By Mack Wilowski for Investopedia Published April 26, 2023]. [Transcendence Diaries editorial intro by Ed Hale… Yet another large regional bank in the United States hangs by a nail on its way to bankruptcy. In what might be the third, fourth or fifth (it’s hard to keep track now) major regional bank in the U.S. to head belly-up in the last two months, money’s disappearing faster than The Fed can print or loan it, but it’s still not major news to the majority of Americans. Why? Maybe it’s because there’s no celebrity gossip attached to it. Maybe it’s because it’s not trending on TikTok. Maybe it’s because Americans don’t think anything is important unless the government interiors their regularly scheduled programming — except that no longer exists — to advise them that something really IS important. And the American government isn’t going to do that here. Not now. They’ll let every small, city, county, state and regional bank in America go bankrupt before they’ll ever say a word to the unsuspecting public. By then it’ll be too late. The rich will have gotten all their money out and both The Federal Reserve and The US Treasury will announce that there’s no more money left for the working class. That’s how it always goes. In return, Americans get to claim they enjoy all the benefits and fruits of Capitalism. Strange game. Horrible odds. Why is it important in regards to an impending World War III? The answer seems obvious. When a large regional bank of a country suddenly goes bankrupt, it should be concerning and front page news. Something isn’t right. When 4-5 of them do in a matter of 8-10 weeks, Mission Control we have a serious problem. The last thing in the world you want when confronting an enemy that’s insane and has nothing to lose (Russia), another who literally thinks youre “evil” and calls you The Great Satan (Iran) and another who hold the very financial and economic stability in the palm of its hand (China) is to be going broke faster than you can keep track of. And sure maybe this is just business as usual capitalist housekeeping… But what if it’s not?]
First Republic Bank (FRC) is teetering on the brink of collapse as shares fell to new all-time lows on reports the federal government and the nation’s biggest banks are reluctant to put together a rescue package.
The beleaguered lender reported deposit outflows of more than $100 billion in the first quarter, or 40% of the total.1 That figure would have exceeded 50% if not for a $30 billion injection of uninsured deposits from 11 of the nation’s biggest banks in March.2
In response, shares of FRC plunged almost 50% yesterday, and are down another 30% today. The bank’s market cap fell below $1 billion in intraday trading, a small fraction of its $40 billion peak in November 2021. Its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio fell as low as 0.7. The stock’s volatility prompted the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to halt trading of FRC 12 times Wednesday.3
To make matters worse, First Republic faces the prospect of losing access to the Fed’s lending facilities if a private deal isn’t reached soon, Bloomberg reported.4 U.S. regulators prefer a private rescue that wouldn’t involve federal authorities seizing the bank, which could further deplete the FDIC’s insurance fund.
Management is scrambling to convince regulators and executives of bigger banks to provide one more financial lifeline. Executives are engaged in a last-ditch effort to improve the bank’s financial standing.
Its options include transferring troubled assets into a “bad bank” or selling off assets at above-market rates. However, other banks may be reluctant to intervene for fear of losing their uninsured deposits and would prefer the FDIC assume control of part of First Republic’s assets.5
First Republic Bank ran into financial difficulty shortly after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank in March, as it had the third-highest share (behind the two collapsed lenders) of uninsured deposits that exceeded the FDIC’s $250,000 limit.
FRC shares tumbled 60% in the first trading session after SVB and Signature Bank’s collapse. They’ve since extended their decline, and are down more than 95% year-to-date.
EARNINGS REPORTS AND NEWSFirst Republic to Cut Staff After 40% Plunge in Deposits
BREAKING: U.S. sanctions Russian and Iranian security services for “holding Americans hostage” https://www.axios.com/2023/04/27/russian-iran-sanctions-wrongful-detention
The U.S. is imposing sanctions on the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and the intelligence arm of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), plus four IRGC leaders, for their roles in the wrongful detentions of U.S. citizens, senior U.S. officials told reporters on Thursday.
Why it matters: The officials said this was the first of multiple rounds of sanctions in the works to punish and deter those who would hold Americans hostage. The practical implications of this step are unclear as both organizations are already under U.S. sanctions.
- These were the first sanctions announced under an executive orderPresident Biden signed last year to provide new tools to help bring hostages home.
What they’re saying: “We do think it’s significant that the first round of sanctions are being announced specifically for this type of behavior, because we’re really concerned about this type of behavior,” a senior official said.
- The sanctions package was already in the works before Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained on espionage charges, which the U.S. and WSJ both say are baseless, a senior official said.
Bloomberg News :: BREAKING :: April 27, 2023 5:56 am Germany in Talks to Limit the Export of Chip Chemicals to China — The move could affect German companies including Merck, BASF. Chancellor Scholz has been striking a harder line on China. Germany is in talks to limit the export of chemicals to China that are used to manufacture semiconductors as Berlin steps up efforts to reduce its economic exposure to the Asian nation. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-27/germany-in-talks-to-limit-the-export-of-chip-chemicals-to-china
April 27, 2023 4:10 am With Zelensky call, Xi Jinping steps up bid to broker peace – but does he have a plan? https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/27/china/china-ukraine-xi-jinping-zelensky-call-analysis-intl-hnk
Hong Kong (CNN) — A long-awaited phone call between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday has received a tentative welcome in Washington and parts of Europe for its potential to increase dialogue toward resolving Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine. It also marks the most concrete step made to date by China to take up the role of mediator that it has for months alluded to playing. But the hour-long conversation, believed to be the first between the two leaders in the fourteen months since Russia invaded Ukraine, also comes with few tangible proposals for how China might help to bridge the devastating, war-torn divide between the two countries. And its timing – at a moment when Beijing is acutely focused on strengthening ties with Europe amid cratering relations with the United States – also suggests there are more drivers than just peace in China’s calculus, analysts say. Ties have been frayed thin since the outbreak of the war, as European leaders have watched in dismay while Beijing refused to condemn the invasion and instead bolstered its economic and diplomatic ties with Moscow, including joining the Kremlin in blaming NATO for fueling the conflict. Efforts from Beijing to repair those relations took a major stumble earlier this week after China’s top diplomat in Paris suggested in a televised interview that former Soviet states have no status under international law – seen as a potential nod to Putin’s view that Ukraine should be part of Russia.
One of China’s most popular and downloaded apps on the App Store, Pinduoduo, listed on the NASDAQ Exchange, has the ability to spy on its users, say experts —- https://apple.news/AJGW-QsJEQb-M9-WGDwccog
World War III Watch – Week Of April 14, 2023
:: BREAKING :: April 20, 2023 10:36 am Nicaragua president Daniel Ortega appeared on a televised interview on COMBATE in Nicaragua today. What he said was no surprise to regular readers of these pages. But to the rest of the world, it came as quite a shock at first. And yet what was so surprising were just how many people once they viewed it, declared how much sense it actually makes. The realization is awakening in mass consciousness so quickly ….
Nicaragua President DANIEL ORTEGA: “World War III is already underway. This is World War III. Why? Because it is the United States and Europe using Ukraine to seek how to disappear Russia. The same thing that happened in World War II… and the first troops that entered the bunker then in Germany were the troops of the Soviet Union. They were the first to enter. In other words, the victory, the great defeat and the victory of the peoples rested on the Russian people, on the Red Army, on the Soviet people. And now we are seeing the same story…
The Russian Federation is fighting a battle for peace. It’s not against a nation. It’s against the fascists, the Nazis who staged a coup d’état there in Ukraine and settled there. It’s Hitler’s children who are ruling there… meanwhile, NATO harassing Russia with more weapons, more bases, and the United States leading the orchestra of international terrorists…”
APOCALYPSE VOW —Ukraine Joining NATO ‘Guaranteed’ to Start World War III, Russian Official Says
“The war in Ukraine is “guaranteed” to escalate into World War III if Kyiv is allowed to join NATO, a Russian Security Council official said Thursday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise announcement that he had made a fast-track bid for membership into the military alliance just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed almost a fifth of Ukrainian territory on Sept. 30. All of NATO’s 30 members would have to approve Ukraine’s bid, making full membership of the defense group a long way off. “Kyiv is well aware that such a step would mean a guaranteed escalation to World War III,””
BREAKING :: U.S. Treasury’s Yellen Says U.S. China Relationship Is Clearly At A ‘Tense Moment’
EXCLUSIVE —- Pakistan makes its first purchase of discounted Russian oil —- https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/exclusivepakistan-buys-its-first-cargo-of-discounted-russian-crude-oil-3060193 https://twitter.com/deitaone/status/1649056913756389377?s=46&t=mnbi41BC-wcQNxvdeSy6nQ
“The U.S. dollar historically has been the currency of oil trade, but the Ukraine war has eroded its dominance as Russia avoids receiving a currency it has been largely blocked from using by Western sanctions.”
Well, we knew this. Or at least thought we did. And it’s turning out to be true. It doesn’t take much observation to see that neither the millennial federation nor Gen Z have any interest in suddenly turning patriotic, donning some itchy uniforms and traveling great distances to defend America’s strange form of capitalism-gone-wild-but-let’s-still-call-it-democracy half way around the world. One too many Vietnam movies for them. One too many “Iraq has WMDs” for them. And far too much desire to appear to be an Influencer or go viral or be a reality TV star or be a TikTok star or smoke a blunt for 15 minutes. Likes and Views baby do not demand serving in a military.
And then there’s this. An expose’ about how the United States still spends more than every other nation on earth combined on continuing to build up its military. Nothing new there. The problem? It’s an old fashioned, large, clunky, antiquated military better suited to the 20th century. Already the U.S. and it’s various infrastructure is being bombarded by cyberattacks on a near daily basis to which it is completely unable to defend itself against. And that’s during, ostensibly, peacetime. Imagine if these foes continued their attacks as this quickly growing lead up to WW III were to heat up even more, which they will. The risk, the one that everyone in the world seems to see — especially America’s ever expanding enemies — except the bigwigs hiding behind the big doors who seem to be controlling everything in the US of A, is that Russia or China or Iran or any of the other countries now firmly entrenched in the New Communist Alliance will sit 2-3 capable 14 year old tech geniuses down in a little room, perhaps in Cuba or Venezuela, and order them to “take out all the major power grids in the US, along with their water mains and internet just for fun, and the American military response will be to roll out a battalion or two of tanks and a few thousand infantry men. And as funny as this hyperbolic image is, it’s also deeply sad and troubling because of just how true it rings in the hearts and minds of the few left with their wits still about them or smart enough to get it. After the Great Dumbing Down America went through as a side effect of the self-demolition of the Republican Party and their naked criminal-mastermind of an emperor, Donald Trump, it is hard to fathom that there are many. Americans of course won’t notice any of this because they’ll be far too busy hypnotized by their Netflix or their Super Bowl or their $500 a seat Taylor Swift concert or their TikTok. You know, as we write this this evening I can still remember the foolhardy comments I received four years ago when I stated i would never be so naïve and short sighted as to download TikTok onto my own phone nor let my kids do it and at the same time suggested what a genius move it was strategically for China to attack the United States so transparently right out in the open through an app, placed right into the greedy grubby hands of every American absolutely free. How many friends replied with snide or sarcastic remarks such as “yeah right, because the Chinese think I’m so important they want to spy on ME…”. Well that mission has been accomplished. We could write a small book on all the damage that “little app” has already put the country in; but much more importantly it’s about what a ticking time bomb it was set up to be and how now that it’s made the rounds through every digital nook and cranny of the entire populace, corporation, organization and government office it’s fully prepared to achieve any number of the countless nefarious missions China planned for it. Pure bloody genius. The bigger picture here is less about the impending global super-conflict heating up, and more about who the winners and losers are going to be, and given the context and data we now possess, just how completely ill-prepared the United States is for it.
From TIME Magazine :: America’s Military Is Unprepared for Our Age of Advanced Technology — Equipped to face the threats of yesterday, our military needs to reform to keep us safe from the threats of tomorrow —- https://apple.news/ADBcJh1l-QsWQZk1yAdM2BA
For current readers of the Diaries, specifically the new series, World War III Watch, the release of this new article in The Nation today should feel like vindication. For it is. As it very accurately echos everything this writer has been saying here for over six months. Though with a few glaring differences. They are taking a much more conservative approach to the events we’ve been witnessing than I have. They also seem to be operating under the misconception that president Joe Biden “has committed” the United States to anything, let alone “a four-front global crusade”. For those that have seen or heard Joe Biden anytime in the last year or two, it is clear that’s simply not possible. Physically, not possible. They’re also presupposing that the United States is somehow in charge of this current impending global military conflict. Probably because they’re accustomed to the US being at the forefront of most large scale global conflagrations — it’s probably not occurred to them that the United States is in the backseat on this one. At best going for a ride, albeit not driving, not choosing the destination, not giving directions and in the backseat. At worst they’re in the trunk, being taken for a ride by enemies who want nothing less for them than the end of their superpower status forever.
I’ve been writing about this, first bubbling, now obvious & ever-growing story, in a series called World War III Watch in the Transcendence Diaries for 6 months. I disagree w the notion that “none of these threaten the well-being of Americans”. @evangershkovich comes to mind.
Yet more poking at the Russian Bear by the West with yet even more dangerous, disturbing and completely unnecessary events. The sovereign nation of Russia, one of the oldest conti
Russian foreign minister visits Latin America —- Russia is moving fast now in their travels around the world to collect both more new countries, and some longtime allies such as Cuba and Venezuela, for the New Communist Alliance they seem to be forming with now-seemingly global Head Honcho, China. No longer afraid or intimidated by the once mighty United States, both countries are on a mission to force those lines in the sand and see where everyone stands. America and a deflated Europe suddenly appear small, with the EU battling persistent inflation and weaker global influence, and the United States seemingly constantly battling itself in a strange Cold War Civil War. China and Russia know this is their time if there’s ever going to be one. Details in article below:
Sergey Lavrov spent Monday in Brasilia, where recently elected President “Lula” Da Silva has already irked Washington by both-sidesing the Ukraine war and refusing to sell weapons to Kyiv.
For Russia, it’s no small thing that one of the world’s largest democracies is at least sympathetic to the Kremlin’s version of the Ukraine story. The fact that Russia exports lots of fertilizer to Brazil’s powerful farm industry probably helps.
Lula, meanwhile, has long sought to carve out a role as a leader of the Global South, where many view the faraway Ukraine war chiefly through the lens of food and energy price inflation and are skeptical of American arguments about defending democracy or the “rules-based order.” Still, he has to tread carefully – osgringos are Brazil’s largest foreign investors and key partners on Lula’s climate change agenda.
While Lavrov thanked Lula for his support, the White House, in a tough rebuke, accused the Brazilian president of “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts.”
After Brasilia, Lavrov will visit old Kremlin comrades in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. All are countries where US sanctions have enabled Russia to gain significant footholds in energy, arms sales, and general “rogue-state” bonhomie.
But beyond that, Russia lags well behind the region’s two major external players: China and the US. See our GT below for more.
But it’s not as simple as that. America is still the economic super power in Latin America, by leaps and bounds. See the Eurasia Group article and graphic below.
Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russia is on a mission to shore up support wherever it can – particularly among rogue and non-aligned states. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is currently jet-setting across Latin America in a bid to rally support for Moscow’s war effort and send a message to the Americans about its own inroads in the region. But when push comes to shove, Moscow has minimal economic clout in Latin America compared to Washington, resulting in less diplomatic leverage. We take a look at Latin American states’ trade ties with the US and Russia.

FBI arrests two alleged Chinese agents and charges dozens with working inside US to silence dissidents —- https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/17/politics/fbi-chinese-agents
Xi Jinping Said Today He Is Preparing China For War: The World Should Take Him Seriously — World War III Watch (3)
The headline graces the cover of Foreign Affairs magazine this morning: “President Xi Jinping Says He is Preparing China For War: The Rest Of The World Should Take Him Seriously. Here: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/xi-jinping-says-he-preparing-china-warhttps://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/xi-jinping-says-he-preparing-china-war
And there it is. On the cover of Foreign Affairs today. “Xi Jinping Says He Is Preparing China For War: The World Should Take Him Seriously”
Some of us can take a few days off now. It’s out. Finally. I have to admit i feel a strange sense of vindication, seeing it start to come out in the mainstream. Didn’t think i would. Was praying i was wrong. As i preface every essay with, this is not something you want to be right about.
But after being near certain about an impending World War III for over a year based on following a consistent steady onslaught of very specific events, and writing about it for over a year, only to start to see undeniable proof of it in the last three months, yet still not hearing a word about it from anyone else, i was beginning to think i and few others were the only ones who wouldn’t be surprised once the lights went out.
My only concern now is will anyone in the U.S. start to wake up to it? Before it’s too late? Or will they keep their faces buried in TikTok and irrelevant domestic political drama?
Will Americans finally start acknowledging the dangerous precipice the world is on — especially considering it’s the United States who has everything to lose? Or keep ignoring the bigger picture till the entire world is on fire…?
I’m not sure. Post a song, 200 people will lovingly comment. Post a joke, 100 people will comment LOL. But post something about the disastrous geopolitical landscape we live in and the biggest transformation of power in four generations and it’s crickets. Americans have completely tuned out world affairs. Except on Twitter. They seem incapable of acknowledging it, let alone following it. Their biggest network news in the US doesn’t even cover it. They’ll spend ten minutes pretending what some congress person in Iowa said to an aid is news, but not say one thing about the hundreds of events that have led us up to this point of being so close to a full on global military conflict. It’s insanity. Textbook.
I’m fully aware that here on FB I’m speaking to no one when discussing world affairs. Part of it is the platform itself. But where better to inform your closest friends and colleagues about the most important events transpiring in our lives? We all love our dogs and kids. But it’s our kids who are being and will be affected the most by the events of the last six months. Ours ask us about these events weekly. They notice. Their lives and careers are being affected.
And this is only the beginning. As i say in every essay over the last three months. And sure enough the next day offers even more devastating news confirming this coming conflagration.
Admittedly this cover story above is BIG. We finally have some confirmation that we weren’t just crying wolf. The question now is what are we going to do? Will Biden acknowledge it? Or keep playing dead? Since the United States is the only country in the world now NOT talking about this every day every hour, will they ever? Or will they literally wait till the very last minute and suddenly act like it’s new news to them?
Well, regardless of what the United States government does or doesn’t do, WE already know. If you follow me, YOU already know. We’re there now. Every late night deep discussion we all participated in during the college years about the possibility of another world war or the United States no longer being the worlds superpower… We’re there now. It’s happening.
I hope and pray this might help unite the two different and sharply divided contingents of the nation. For without that, we don’t stand a chance. But truth be told I don’t think we have a chance regardless. America is tired, drunk, broke, lazy, divided, spoiled, deeply in debt, sick to death of its own corruption, obsessed with the shallow or what might make them a celebrity for a night or two.
There is no Great Generation in the younger ranks. They are woefully despondent, doped up on TV and antidepressants or high on their favorite strain of cannabis. They don’t know history. So they don’t realize that we’re now living in the most historically important era since the 1940s. It’s just not part of who they are.
God this is depressing. Yet it’s true. It’s never served anyone to bury their head in the sand in order to avoid seeing the truth. Americans have had it good for so long that like an addict they have become so drenched in it that all they can think about is how much they don’t have. They spend their time killing each other in daily mass shootings and then arguing about what caused it rather than fixing the problem. It’s Rome. It’s Persia. It’s Egypt. It’s Great Britain.
This is why the New Communist Alliance I speak of often has had no problem getting ahead of the US in this buildup to World War III. When you have ten nations all supremely focused on one goal, ridding the world of the United States as a superpower once and for all, and that same United States still focused on infighting about whether gay people or black people or women deserve equal rights, when the rest of the world already made up its mind about that decades ago, it is clear who the winner will be.
It’s not that the New Communist Alliance countries are better or on the right side. They’re not. They’re ideologically deplorable in ideal and practice. Sickening dictatorships. The United States and it’s western allies are still way ahead of the game in their democratic and egalitarian ideals and systems. But that doesn’t negate their spoiled sense of entitlement or their ignorance of world affairs; nor their addiction to distraction and luxury.
We’ve seen this movie far too many times. The once reigning superpower never survives once they hit this point in the film. Except for a few notable exceptions.
We could recall that when Rome fell it didn’t actually matter because the empire itself had already moved to Byzantium and continued to reign Supreme over most of the world for another thousand years. Despite the harm that did to hundreds of millions, it does offer hope for the United States having a chance here in this coming epic battle for world domination we are faced with now.
Let us hope that the powers that be are on top of this, that they have a plan, that the younger generations are not half as inept as they seem when it comes to defending our homeland, that a treaty of some kind can be reached, even if it only buys us another few years to settle our affairs. I was never patriotic. I am now. God save the republic.
World War III Watch (2) — China Escalates the Tension By Bypassing the U.S. Dollar & Creating a New Global Trade Agreement
ATTN: This latest development in what appears to be the quickly impending World War III scenario I’ve been writing about for the last six months was just announced about 5 minutes ago. The story is still breaking. Ive been refreshing a large variety of diff news sites every minute to monitor.
“BREAKING: Fox News: China’s new agreement with Iran, India, Saudi Arabia and Russia is a fatal blow to the dollar. Fox News reported that China was able to deal a fatal blow to the dollar in the trade agreement with Iran, India, Saudi Arabia and Russia.”
And this: “BREAKING: CNBC confirms that Saudi Arabia has joined a China-led security bloc and trade alliance with China, Russia, India, Pakistan and others.”
“China transacts the very first commodities purchase, of liquid natural gas, using a currency other than the US dollar in 100 years.”
Today is Wednesday March 29th, 2023. Every bit as disastrous as Friday March 17th, which up until 30 minutes ago I classifed as the worst day in regards to events leading up to World War III. It was. But today tied it.
We knew it might be coming. Some did at least. Though i still did not necessarily believe we’d see this latest event below in our lifetimes, I wrote about and predicted the potential for it to happen two weeks ago in the essay entitled World War III Watch in the Transcendence Diaries here: https://transcendencediaries.com/2023/03/17/world-war-iii-and-what-to-watch-for/
So far little by little every prediction in the essay has continued to transpire day by day. Though it’s clearly not something anyone wanted to see happen. Seeing the potential for it to happen, writing about and warning about it, is not the same as wanting it.
But the activities and events are now moving FAST. As they have been for months. While the US not only doesn’t do anything about it, doesn’t even speak about it, doesn’t even acknowledge it to the general public.
I refuse to believe that the US government is not fully aware of these events, not monitoring them and not preparing for them. One assumes they just haven’t wanted to alert the American people about it, due to what a mess the U.S. is in domestically, and out of fear of panic setting in. I believe they’ve made a tragic strategic error in judgement in not telling the American people about it and not preparing them for it.
We’ve been watching events like this unfold all year that strongly indicate the world is barreling at breakneck speed toward a global military conflict, a World War III or something like it. Definitely something much bigger and more impactful than a Cold War now. The Cold War with Russia and China from 30 years ago seems quaint by comparison. That was all about spying and intelligence agencies.
This is all above board, real world, practical changes in the most fundamental and foundational aspects of the global geopolitical environment and the relationship between the earth’s largest superpowers. Energy, commodities, currencies, banking, trade agreements, financial markets, political alliances, et al. are all being swiftly manipulated simultaneously. But for the first time, not by the United States.
It’s what some have been calling “The Great Reset” as China begins to overtake the United States in global dominance and influence in a variety of different arenas, along with an ever-growing number of other countries while together they build what I’ve been referring to as The Communist Alliance. Though I dont think anybody believed we’d see this much unfold in a matter of 3 months. But we have.
The world may escape a global conflict if the US just peters out and dies on the vine, which is ultimately what this new Communist Alliance wants and is aiming for. With the US having the largest debt in human history, one of the biggest Debt to GDP ratios on record, now over 100%, and China being the largest, most important debt holder of American instruments, this is the perfect time for this new alliance to make its move.
Together the US and the EU combined have not been able to help Ukraine beat Russia in any measurable way nor even move in the right direction. No matter how much they spend. Their influence has been weak and without much benefit to Ukraine. Clearly this is something China and Russia have noticed, along with the rest of the world, and a large reason why they’ve decided to amp up so quickly in their shared mission.
They don’t “want” a war. And they may not even need one if things keep going the way they’re going. They want to replace the United States in global dominance. And they have been strategically brilliant over the last 4 years in this. Especially China.
This latest development takes them one step closer. Closer than they’ve ever been. Closer than any country has ever been in the last 100 years. I honestly didn’t think we’d see this and so many other events over the last few months in our lifetime.
This is an unheralded event. If this even starts to repeat or becomes the norm, it has the potential to crush the US economy in months. The United States will have no choice but to quickly shift toward war-footing before that even begins to happen.
Throw in Iran, Syria, North Korea, Hungary, along with others, and a pending Chinese invasion of Taiwan soon to come, and we begin to see how far we’ve let this get without doing anything.
As an American I am deeply concerned that the Biden administration seems to have no clue what’s happening. I’d feel much more comfortable if he held a press conference or a prime time televised talk to all Americans to advise us what we’re seeing, what it implies and what they plan to do about it.
Lest we forget China president Xi is in Ukraine now meeting with Zelensky. I must admit that I am on pins and needles dreading an announcement from either of them about any kind of new influence or assistance from China to Ukraine.
If China is successful in brokering any kind of peace agreement or ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, that too would be another nail in the coffin for the US, immediately showing how out of touch and unnecessary they are on the world stage.
Having Europe as your ally no longer means what it once did. In fact it now means very little. Especially when it’s your biggest and only ally and your enemy is a new global superpower collation led by China and Russia.
Taiwan’s president is in the US meeting with the White House, the American president surely confirming unilateral unwavering support for Taiwan, despite the fact that we already know China’s intention to take it over. None of this is “good”.
World War III Watch
For me it started during the summer of 2021, approximately a year and a half ago. It wasn’t based on news or data, but only an intuitive feeling at the time. Throughout the morning that day I had been feeling a disturbing intuitive sense that something was off regarding international relations and global conflicts. Something bad was about to happen globally and it was major.
I walked into the kitchen where Princess Little Tree (PLT) was cooking all morning and I said “there’s going to be some kind of a war honey. Something big. Like a world war. I can feel it.” But Princess Little Tree is accustomed to my outlandish declarations. She responded by asking me if something had happened that led me to think that. I told her no, it’s just a really strong intuitive sense. As the feeling continued to intensify I continued to repeat to her throughout the day how I was sensing something big, some kind of major global altercation. At some point she said “well let’s note it and put it on the calendar”. So we did. On a hot august day in the summer of 2021. We wrote “PBJ (Prince Baby Joon) sees a world war coming”.
And that was it. Time passed. And we didn’t hear or see much in the way of anything that supported this idea. Until more than a year later when Russia invaded Ukraine. That in and of itself did not raise the hairs on the back of my neck. We had seen this movie too many times before, especially during the Obama years. Then it stopped once Trump was elected and Russia suddenly was on its best behavior. (Interesting that…) But for some reason it got everyone else alarmed. Especially the United states and Europe.
Once the United States and Europe started acting as if the safety and security of the entire world was being threatened by this Russian invasion of Ukraine (it’s not), I started commenting, softly and slowly at first and then more intensely, “this is the beginning of what I was seeing. We’re literally watching in real time what could easily throw us into a world war…”. It wasn’t Russia invading Ukraine. It was the fact that the US and most European countries were so willing to jump into the conflict by suddenly backing Ukraine as if they too were in a war against Russia.
Which of course they were, as the rest of us would soon begin to realize as the months wore on. Pretty soon it was hard to tell who was at war. Sure Ukraine held the little name badge showing they were an official team in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. But the United States is the country actually funding and weaponizing the whole thing. And this along with Europe’s contributions to Ukraine and directly opposing Russia was and will remain historically one of the biggest foreign policy errors in human history. And at this point anyone who claims that the United States is not at war with Russia is not paying attention. Or in denial. Or lying.
[Right here I’m going to tell you that exploring the reasons why the United States decided to go to war against Russia (simply put it’s payback to Zelensky for keeping his mouth shut to protect both Trump and Biden from the criminal repercussions they’d receive if the full stories of their past actions in and involving Ukraine were revealed) is vital but not pertinent to the bigger picture of this impending world war, because this has spiraled so far out of control now, in so many different directions that the US didn’t foresee, that even the strange and abnormal hero status and protection that the United States has bestowed upon Zelensky is not as important as everything else we’re witnessing that appears to be leading us into a large scale global super-conflict that threatens to be the biggest and deadliest in human history.]
Late yesterday, after a slew of concerning events that further showed how quickly the world is moving toward war, the president of Serbia gave a chilling warning about it: “…this is an escalation that has no end. I’m afraid that we may be heading towards the biggest conflict in the history of the world. I wonder if anyone is smart enough not to go through with this, and if anyone understands whatever the consequences of this will be,” Vucic said.
Friday March 17 2023 will go down in history books as the day that signaled the world was headed down a path toward another world war. Out of everything we heard through the newswires Friday that signaled this dark moment, perhaps none was more important nor more important than hearing that the International Criminal Court (ICC) of the Netherlands issued a formal arrest warrant for Russian President Putin for war crimes. It is one of the most surreal and ludicrous actions we’ve seen so far building up to the harsh realities now facing us.
Surreal because one cannot imagine anyone so short sighted to issue an arrest warrant against the president of a sovereign nation, especially not under the circumstances of said president being in the middle of a war with another country. The implications are immense. President Putin is immune to such an action. As any president of any other sovereign nation is. At best this is a foolhardy political ploy that will feed only the hearts and minds of celebrity-minded media maggots with nothing better to talk about. The same anchors reporters and pundits who play Who’s Popular with American politicians every night instead of reporting the news.
To see how ludicrous the action is imagine for a moment if the ICC issued an arrest warrant for American President Joe Biden. The United States would immediately issue a press release decrying the act as not legally binding and not lawfully applicable to the president. Just as the Kremlin did. They would also issue a warning to the ICC and the 123 member countries to not move forward with any such actions in that direction or face the consequences. Just as the Kremlin did.
Most importantly if anyone did take this arrest warrant seriously and do anything to president Biden, the US military would take such swift action to protect our president that it would be over in less than 30 minutes. It would also spell the beginning of the end for that country. One can only imagine the destruction that would befall said country should they do anything that stupid. The same thing would happen if anything were to happen to president Putin. As it should be. It would ring the bells of the first shots that began World War III. If we do not collectively honor the national sovereignty of other countries and their leaders, no matter how much we might disagree with them, then we don’t deserve freedom and liberty as a people. We might as well start building the jail cells to prepare for the forever-1984 world we’d be creating.
After nearly a year of talking about this, trying to get others to see what’s happening, how obvious it is, how deadly it’s going to be, we finally get some confirmation, someone else, someone with a little credibility on the world stage, warning of the same thing. Because it has become obvious now to anyone paying attention.
Many other countries around the world haven’t been as withholding and have already boldly stepped forward to declare their allegiance to one side or the other for all the world to see. Much of it has happened in the last month. I have been shocked how quickly it’s unfolding now. What started out as nothing more than a feeling, turned into a hunch, and then avalanched into a reality composed of a daily series of events that we can now track and dread.
The nations of the world are quickly forming alliances with each other, choosing which side they’re on and filing into place in preparation for this coming world war. The United States seems to be the only nation who hasn’t come clean with its citizens or the media or the rest of the world in admitting what they see happening and what they plan on doing about it.
My guess is that the powers that be in Washington know very well what’s happening, regardless of how dumb and clueless those in the White House, senate and congress appear to be to the rest of us. My hope is that those who need to know do know and they’re just playing it close to the vest to delay the chaos and panic that would ensue if it came out.
In the last month we’ve seen a multitude of incidents announced around the world that should be terrifying to those paying attention, which is the primary problem: not many people are paying attention. And I dont believe that even the events of this week’s news will change that. I’m guessing that for the most part people are waiting to be told by their favorite American news network that they need to be paying attention. Obviously a serious miscalculation for those who care about such things. (And who doesn’t?)
News networks have done a decent job of feeding us about 35% of the facts and news-bites that are important and pertinent to this impending global conflict, but none have dared to analyze the data and report what governments, think tanks and experts are surely already discussing behind closed doors. They’re still spending 99% of their airtime stupefyingly debating political nonsense about the American president or congress or senators they like or dislike. It’s beyond inane the way politics have turned into the favorite plaything of news-as-entertainment. It’s obliterated the way people view and think about world news.
Especially in the climate we’re in now. I’m nothing. A working class singer-songwriter. If someone like me can already start putting the pieces together and notice the world is getting damn close to the largest global conflict in world history, then surely journalists and news producers can. But they refuse to. Or better put they refuse to acknowledge they’re able or willing to. That’s a sure path to mutually agreed upon self destruction for both the media and the people and world they claim to serve.
The media and the government have been so preoccupied with their self professed war with Russia that they forgot the United States has already been in a Cold War with China for years. The potential for China, the second largest economy in the world and third largest super power, already at war with the United States and proud of it, to suddenly form an alliance with Russia, the second largest super power, was almost inevitable. But something we all hoped we’d never see.
That took place yesterday when we woke up to the news that China’s president Xi Jinping is heading off to Russia next week to sign new alliance agreements with Putin. This is the news that we have been dreading.
For context many people think the United States won World War II. What they forget is that Great Britain, France, the United States, along with Russia and China won World War II. So what is a World War III for the United States going to look like with those two superpowers fighting on the other side.
Lest we forget that the United States has a questionably spotty if not a downright bad record of being able to win wars on its own since the end of World War II. Korea, Vietnam, the Iran-Iraq war (which the United States initiated through funding Iraq with tens of billions of dollars and weapons while demanding that Iraq invade Iran until it realized that Iran was still winning after 5 years so they switched course and started secretly funding Iran with money and weapons (see Iran Contra Affair)).
Then came the US attacks of the Middle East in the 2000s where at one point the United States was engaged in a war with six different countries simultaneously but could not realistically make one victory speech about any of them even after 20 years because they couldn’t figure out how to win. Instead they let military personal and soldiers flounder for decades in the deserts not winning nor receiving the necessary support or escalated troop numbers they needed. Eventually the United States told the troops to come home, in Afghanistan for example, with their tail between their legs not having accomplished anything. Once again an American war that didn’t go as planned.
With Libya the US didn’t even bother to start a war. They just bombed the hell out of the country and killed its president and other leaders, which were the only thing keeping the country remotely stable, then abandoned the country and it’s people, leaving it to become one of the top training grounds for Islamic terrorism and ISIS in the world, which is what it is today. This was not winning a war. What it was careless and bad strategy.
These kind of global displays of reckless destruction and stupidity used to work for the United States. Or at least they were usually confident they’d get away with them and there’d be no serious repercussions. But things have changed over the last five to ten years.
Other nations around the earth have gotten tired of them. Traditionally they weren’t able to do anything to stop the US from its careless bullying and bomb dropping. Because they were too small and the United States has too large a military. But with newfound confidence from large economies and a thirst to break free from American global dominance once and for all, along with the advent of new anti-American policies by the second and third largest superpowers, Russia and China, other smaller nations are being heard and welcomed into this new multinational super-alliance. Fast. And the one thing that all of these nations share in common is a hatred of all things Western.
Consider for a moment how many hundreds of millions of people in the Middle East alone who have been dreaming about taking deadly revenge against the United States for the last 23 years. With both Iran and Saudi Arabia forming new alliances with Russia and China in the last few weeks it appears that vision is ever closer for them. The fact that the Saudis would even dare dream of doing such a thing when the US, for better or worse, created the country in the first place and has supported this family of viscous dictators for almost a hundred years is unthinkable. But they did it. Just a week ago. That’s not something the United States ever counted on happening.
Why else would the White House permit the prince of Saudi Arabia MBS to chop up the body of an American journalist, Jamal Kashogi, into tiny pieces and stuff it into a suitcase with no consequences? What would be a capital offense for anyone else is permissible for the Saudis. Because ostensibly we need need each other. But that’s officially changed over the last month. We may still need them. But they don’t need us anymore.
Obviously the worst of all possible outcomes would be if these countries decided to break the United States’ monopoly on oil and the petro dollar, something that’s been contemplated and announced by both and China through newswires several times this year already. The US dollar would plummet instantly. The biggest challenge the United States faces is that it has one of the weakest economies in the world now, very different than 20-25 years ago. They have the largest national debt in human history and a debt to GDP ratio well over 100%.
Normally when a country reaches a Debt/GDP ratio of 60%, they are forced into brutal austerity measures by other countries around the world and are never able to rebuild their economy again. This is because statistical models show that once over 60% it’s impossible for any country to rebuild from that. The debt/GDP ratio of the US now is almost double that. The only thing keeping the United States afloat at this point is it’s large multinational military presence i.e. fear, and it’s monopoly over oil and world currency — the latter would immediately end if the other large superpowers convinced the Saudis it was okay to break this longstanding agreement with the US. The question now is what’s stopping them with new alliances with Russia and China?
The United States can never borrow enough to get out of its debt even by a little because no one else has that kind of money to loan them. The US could theoretically gather every billionaire in the country and strong arm them into assisting it in lowering its debt or in helping it increase its purchasing power. But even if they took every penny every billionaire in America possesses, it wouldn’t make a dent in the 22 trillion dollars of debt the United States has on its books now.
And that’s yesterdays news compared to the latest implosion of small and midsized banks across America, a path that as worrying and traumatizing as it is for most of us to witness, is just getting started. This poses another threat for the United States in being able to fund a full scale war against the new Communist Alliance. Although one may consider that due to how profitable war is for many parties, securing funding shouldn’t be a problem.
At this point only a war can save the United States. A war they would need to win. It’s how they got out of their last debt crisis, the Great Depression. If it weren’t for World War II it’s not likely the United States would’ve come out of the Great Depression to become the largest superpower in the world.
What’s important to piece together is who will be purportedly fighting who. Who are the Allied Powers now? The new Communist Alliance we’re seeing come together now is China, Russia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, and several smaller Eastern European nations. Will China invade Hong Kong and Taiwan soon and force them to fight in the conflict? Or will the United States come to their aid and start a war with China to defend these important economic houses? Does that imply they would fight with The Western Alliance?
Who is the Western Alliance? The United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, Japan (yes it’s ironic how all the tables have switched sides since the last Great War), the Scandinavian nations, Turkey will fall on that side since they’re so indebted to the US, et al. Think NATO. One can easily see a potential problem. This isn’t the early 20th century. None of these once grand superpowers are as strong or powerful as they once were. Only Germany still poses an authoritative threat militarily to anyone besides the U.S.
It’s important to note that the United States has over 1500 military bases and black ops sites all over planet earth at this time. The second largest mass is that of Russia who only have 640 sites in total. This gives the United States a healthy advantage strategically going in.
One of the later events of yesterday that appeared in the news to add fire to the flames of an impending world war was the announcement that Finland has now decided to join NATO, against numerous warnings against that action at this time by other NATO countries, and Turkey publicly stated they were willing to ratify it. Talk about poking the bear. Not even the United States was willing to consider this, nor the membership of Ukraine for that matter (despite their incessant pleading for it) because everybody knows that was the main reason given by Putin as to why he invaded Ukraine. He doesn’t want Mother Russia to be unfairly surrounded by NATO member countries on his border. Which makes perfect sense. It’s a justifiable concern. Which is why major western countries have been unwilling to let Finland or Ukraine join NATO. It would only fan the flames of an already angry Russia. The fact that this too was announced yesterday was another step toward the wrong direction if what we all want is world peace.
More later. This is just the first in what will surely be more notes about this deeply concerning issue.
New Song “On the Day They Overturned”
In the immediate aftermath of the United States Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe Vs. Wade on Friday, Ed Hale performed a new song entitled “On the Day They Overturned” on his Instagram account and his Transcendent Television channel on YouTube, along with a copy of the song’s powerful, at times graphic lyrics.
“I haven’t been writing as many songs with lyrics lately as you know, because I’ve really been into writing these orchestral guitar instrumentals. But this one came rather fast & furious in the last 48 hours. Like everybody else i was in a state of shock all day after hearing the news, dumbstruck really.”
“The song came to me late Friday night, popped in my head pretty much completed. Saturday I just had to sit down and flesh out the lyrics. Took Sunday to fine tune them. But the song already knew what it was, knew what it wanted to say. I just had to listen.”
On social media Hale wrote, “This song was particularly inspired by human rights and enlightenment activist Devkirn Khalsa, based on a whirlwind of important, intense conversations we had during those first 48 hours. Some of the lyrics are nearly direct translations of conversations we’ve had about these topics in the last two days.”
Performed on a 1971 Hofner 489 acoustic guitar. Two microphones going direct in mono. No treatment or effects.
Lyrics
“On the Day They Overturned”
On the day they overturned
I looked away the world was burning
On the day they overturned
As we were fighting to be heard
All was lost but we didn’t understand
How the rights we had
Could be wrestled from our hands
On the day they overturned
On the day they overturned
Didn’t I see you crawling
Through an alley on your knees
The scars of pain
Carved in your face
As you lay bleeding in the street
Like an animal
I know
That’s what we fought for
On the day they overturned
I looked away, my body trembling
On the day they overturned
A final battle cry was heard
A billion people gathered on the earth
To mourn a nation’s death
So soon after it’s birth
On the day they overturned
On the day they overturned
Didn’t we see it coming
From a million miles away
When states misguided
By stacked courts and gods
Become theocracies
It’s inevitable
I know
That’s what we fought for
I know
Isn’t that what we fought for
On the day we overcame
stared straight ahead
And never fumbled
On the day we overcame
And stopped corruption in our name
All was lost
But they didn’t understand
How it was theirs to lose
As we snatched it from their hands
On the day we overcame
On the day we overcame
We finally raised the flag of freedom
In the morning light
Not for the men the straight
the christian or the wealthy or the white
But for everyone
I know
It’s what we fought for
Music and Lyrics by Ed Hale
Another Shooting In America’s Longest War
A friend just sent us a note that 3 people in his backyard of Birmingham, Alabama were killed a few days back, one of them he knew going back a long time. Like many, his desperate plea is for prayers. Comforting maybe for the survivors, in the moment and on the surface, but clearly not a solution. Because the problem is only getting worse, despite all the best intentions of countless prayers. His message steeled my resolve even more.
Thank you sharing this my fiend. It is with continued shock, grief and sorrow that we are once again reminded just how bad this crisis has become and just how important our mission is to stop it. This past year I have been slowly learning, realizing, that it doesn’t matter if we knew them or not, nor “how many”, nor if they were children or adults.
The tragedy is that we are forced to consider, and then attempt to qualify these different aspects of mass shootings on a near daily basis now. Which ones to highlight and report on. Which ones to make a big national deal out of… Child versus adult. How many. Did we know them. Where were they. As if one is better or worse than the other in some way…. When it is all terribly tragic, and worse perhaps, almost entirely preventable.
The fact that if we blink, or take a day off, yet another, or five more, or ten more, transpire somewhere else in our nation that week. It is an endless parade of human loss and families destroyed now in America’s most personal and devastating war.
I am so very sorry that this hit so close to home for you brother.
Long bear hug,
E
One of the most disturbing images that has burned itself into my memory is that of a weasly little man called Ted Cruz a few weeks back. One of the biggest impediments to stopping gun violence in America, he decides to show his face down in Uvalde, Texas… turn it into a political campaign event for himself.
A mass of reporters from other countries had flown in to the States to cover the story. One of them had the courage to ask Cruz, who is a senator of what’s turned into a mess of a country and therefore has some power to actually improve things for the shocked and devastated Americans, what he’s going to do about this latest mass shooting.
Cruz blusters around the issue claiming they need to “research it more”. The reporters all laugh. Because the answer was ridiculous. The idea that the United States needs to “research more” to stop mass murders instead of pass laws to stop them is a foolish one, either a silly attempt at deception of only the most intellectually compromised citizens, or the ramblings of a true idiot with limited mental capacity.
Cruz then goes on to mention “American Exceptionalism”, to which the whole gaggle of reporters start laughing. “How can you possibly justify American exceptionalism when your government permits these mass murders and won’t do anything to prevent them?” they ask. “I’m sorry you think American exceptionalism is funny” Cruz replies. As if he’s just delivered a winning jab at some junior high school political debate.
At this very moment all eyes and cameras abandoned the man, recognizing that he didn’t have anything substantive to add to the story nor the larger discussion about gun violence or mass shootings in America.
One can imagine foreign journalists and reporters discussing having to fly to America yet again to cover one of their incessant mass shootings. How they must be both shocked and entertained at the stupidity of the people. The conversations they must have amongst each other… “what did the Americans say this time? Will they finally start passing laws to prevent gun violence there?” “No, on the contrary. They want to pray more and increase guns in all their schools.”
It is a record of the times. The year is 2022.