Just announced this morning, The BRICS Group Has Invited SIX new Nation State Members, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, to join its roster, expanding Its reach as an alternative global super power. These six new countries have been invited to join the Chinese and Russian led club of emerging nations, strengthening its role as a geopolitical alternative to Western-led forums. The BRICS group — think an alternative NATO — is already composed of the countries Brasil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Though the group of eleven countries just met in South Africa at the fifteenth annual BRICS Forum in South Africa, the newest member states to be invited have not formally joined BRICS, implying that the United States and its European allies have a chance in the coming months to massage differences and offer incentives to said countries in order to keep diplomatic ties and strengthen relationships between them and NATO allies.
What this illustrates more than anything is how important the next presidential election in the United States is and how much work that person and cabinet will have in order to try to cool things off on the geopolitical scene, and hopefully stopping BRICS from growing any further. No easy feat.
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.
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.
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)
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. …
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?”
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
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’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.
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.
*WESTERN ALLIANCE SINKS 58% ON REPORT IT'S EXPLORING SALE…As we contemplate what's going on with $PACW and $WAL and the #FDIC, don't forget that the story of the U.S. banking system is the story of fewer #banks. Used to be 14K banks, now just 4K. pic.twitter.com/b4Y1iIwI2C
First Republic Bank Is Seized, Sold to JPMorgan in Second-Largest U.S. Bank Failure In Historyand the Third U.S. Bank To Go Bankrupt In the Last Three Months
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
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]
A Russian fighter pilot came close to igniting World War III when he fired on a British surveillance plane, since under NATO’s treaty, if one member of the alliance falls victim to an attack, all members of the alliance are obliged to consider it one.https://t.co/JNyDvMj6vz
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.
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
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
:: 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…”
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… pic.twitter.com/1leqANzwgV
“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,””
“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.
Kids these days are all too aware of the downsides of enlisting. Potentially getting killed, for one.https://t.co/TjHiGKiBDX
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.
Biden has now committed us to a four-front global crusade against Russia, China, Iran, and a continually shifting terrorist hit list. None of these “enemies” threaten the survival or well-being of Americans.https://t.co/l0Dw9zKwMt
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
US LOOKS FORWARD TO WELCOMING SWEDEN TO BECOME A FULL NATO MEMBER BEFORE JULY SUMMIT: U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY
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.
It was a fast-paced, busy week of world affairs and events leading up to a potential mass global military conflict, or at the very least and more easily recognizable, a major pivot from the United States to China as the worlds new superpower. (This is important in the larger scope of World War III Watch because the United States cannot afford to not be the worlds leading superpower. Literally. Due to their astronomical debt, the largest one in human history, their staggering Debt/GDP ratio, that statistically is and will be impossible to ever get out of withOUT a war (that they must win) and the now suddenly very real possibility that the US dollar will no longer be “the worlds reserve currency”, one can be sure that behind every closed door in America’s over-inflated government, the main topic of discussion is how to maintain a shred of decency as the world pivots to China as its new leader, punctuated by declarations that this simply cannot stand because the country cannot afford it, with surely plenty of quiet suggestions that “we all know what we must do now…”.)
What has held up the United States for decades as the worlds superpower in the face of the financially bankrupt state it’s been in, is two-fold: the power, might and sheer massive size of its military, plus the shocking number of military bases and black ops sites it has all over the world — over 1500 at last count, 3 times the number of the second most, Russia, and #2, the dominance of the U.S. Dollar, or “the Petrodollar” so named because of the forcibly mandatory rule that all nations on planet earth must use the US Dollar to conduct its business in the energy sector, to buy or sell OIL. Without these two painful facts for the rest of the world, the United States would have ceased being the leading superpower decades ago. There are plenty of other countries who have their fiscal house in order and are even running surpluses rather than record setting debt, with less corruption and much happier citizenry. For all the patriotic speak, mainly from the slave states (now referring to themselves as “red states”), Americans, as can be seen from any viewpoint anywhere in the world, are extremely unhappy. Especially with their government. So too are the majority of world leaders regarding the American government. Unhappy displeased disappointed discouraged disgusted delightfully gleeful about how quickly the house is crumbling. Even with concentration camps, communism and slave labor, other countries are lining up to form alliances with China simply because they appear to be strong, have clearly stated realizable goals in front of them and have their house in order.
AND because, unlike the United States, who is as corrupt and duplicitous as any other empire on earth but pretends it’s God’s gift to freedom fairness and Justice when it clearly isn’t. Whereas China doesn’t back away from being upfront about who it is. Corrupt and murderous? Sure. Like every other country in the world today. But they don’t hide it. They defend their being so and the reasons why. But they don’t pretend to be something they are not.
America has been doing this “believe what we say not what we do” dance for decades. And to many other countries, this charade is beginning to smell bad, especially in the new millennium.
Where else are the people and even the government itself willing to elect a highly suspect, piggish and pathologically narcissistic, ludicrously ignorant and criminal thug who giddily incites violence and treasonous government overthrows at the drop of a hat for president? In America it is something the people are killing themselves fighting over. In the rest of the world it is something the people shake their head in shock over. Or laugh about. The truth is, America, in the state it’s in now, doesn’t deserve to be the worlds leading superpower.
As the CNN article below details, leaders from nations all over the globe are flocking to Beijing to meet with and pay their respects to China president Xi Jinping, seeing him as the world’s new de facto leader, a spot once held only for American Presidents since the end of World War II. But times have changed. No one is lining up to pay homage to or kiss the ring of Gentle Joe Biden, no matter how civil, respectable or noble the man is. It is sad that this landed at his feet in the last few years of his life. One of the most major and important transformations in modern history, one that Gentle Joe is clearly not adept enough to handle now. And his VP, well there probably isn’t a soul on earth who wants to even see her try.
So the question remains. Will the United States allow China and Russia and this New Communist Alliance to take over? Or will the military step in and force a war as they’ve done so many times in the past in order to try to maintain America’s global dominance? The answer is yet to come. Article directly below:
As has been stated numerous times throughout the last 100 years, without the US Dollar being the (albeit mandatory) “worlds reserve currency, the United States would be truly bankrupt — as it is already, the only difference being that it is still able to pull off the “superpower” charade due to every country in the world being forced to use the U.S. dollar for energy, oil and other trade purchases. That and it’s military might. In other words, in both cases, the threat of military action by the most militarily powerful country in human history. A few articles from just this week, below, follow this quickly unfolding story,,,
JUST RELEASED: One Hour Ago, Russia’s Terrifying Message To The USA. Russia’s Foreign Ministry Claimed Today That The USA and Russia Are Now Formally In “a Hot Phase Of a Cold War” and Urges The U.S. to Re-Start Some Kind Of Dialogue Before It Is Too Late. But the United States and NATO Are Not Interested In Any Kind Of Peace Talks. —- This is what is being heard in government houses all over the world at this time. Watch video below for more….
Chinese Foreign Minister Meets With Taliban Leaders On First Visit To Kabul Since Militant Group Seized Power From United States
So let’s get this straight: the United States government spent 20 years, hundreds of billions of dollars and unknown numbers of American soldiers who lost their lives or are permanently wounded or maimed to accomplish nothing except to secure a permanent position of power for the Taliban in Afghanistan. In the end Afghanistan is now more free for the authoritarian Taliban to own the country outright since the U.S. did all their dirty work for them, i.e. swept and cleaned out the county of and and all potential resistance groups. China, the largest wealthiest authoritarian nation on earth, sees the opening and has begun to court the Taliban leaders of Afghanistan with support, access, resources, infrastructure and money, seeing an opportunity to bring them into the fold of the New Communist Alliance they’re forming — a wildly successful mission that they’re moving on and making tremendous progress with at an alarmingly fast rate, while the United States is sadly still courting little broken former empires of the 20th century. Shockingly short sighted. An alliance of any kind between China and Afghanistan will be beneficial for both countries. And disadvantageous for the United States and other Western nations. And how will China fund this new venture? Well besides the aforementioned hundreds of billions the United States unwittingly contributed to China’s becoming the new big brother to Afghanistan through its 20 years long war there, 100% of the necessary funds going forward will come from the hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars China gets from the U.S. every year. America has become completely dependent on China economically and financially. Whether it’s the billions China makes from the US housing the majority of its manufacturing there (talk of onshoring or reshoring manufacturing back to the United States is just that, talk. Very cheap talk. Nothing but bread and candy politicians throw out to the unknowing working classes during political campaigns and rallies. Bringing manufacturing back to the US would bankrupt the already bankrupt Country in less than a year. Besides the insane amount of money China makes from the United States through selling its manufacturing and slave labor, China also provides the United States with its largest consumer base for American companies who simply couldn’t stay in business and do well without the Chinese consumers. China knows this. And they use it to their own benefit and to the detriment of the U.S. Even subtle and slight manipulations of what America is allowed to export and sell to chinese consumers has a major affect on the bottomline of America’s largest companies. And China knows this. So as China and Russia continue to build up both their war chest for what they see is an already very hot Cold War with the West, and the ever increasing number of nations joining their New Communist Alliance, ironically it’s the United States who are footing the bill for it all. https://www.rferl.org/a/chinese-fm-visits-taliban-afghanistan/31768166.html
The below of course is total bullshit. There are plenty of alternatives to Ukraine joining NATO. Like Ukraine NOT joining NATO and neimging us one step closer to WW III. Putin has already expressed his opposition to being surrounded by NATO countries on all sides of his borders. Which is one of his stated reasons for invading Ukraine— that and getting access to all their energy machinery which has been stored there for decades. Why the blatant disrespect for Russia’s sovereignty? With Finland already now joining NATO to cover Russia’s northern border, does anyone think Russia is going to just lie down and accept being surrounded by NATO country’s without a fight? Would the United States? Of course not. It’s time the US and EU started leveling with its people about what’s really going on here, what’s at stake, and more importantly stopped all this nonsense. And Zelensky and Ukraine need to start fighting their own battles.
UKRAINIAN DEFENCE MINISTER REZNIKOV: THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TO UKRAINE'S ACCESSION TO NATO
And there it is (below). In one of the many steps the world has helplessly witnessed towards China taking Taiwan back after all these years, as many as possible disclosed in these pages, newswires just announced China will start imposing No Fly Zones just north of Taiwan starting on April 16, 2023. Clearly a response to the United States hosting a high ranking Taiwanese leader to come to the US and meet with various politicians. Was it a mistake for the United States to make such a paper tiger move considering it can’t even get its own house in order? Unless they aren’t telling us all something(s), which has been their modus operendi for time immemorial so a caveat on this one, yes clearly it was a huge mistake. It played right into China’s hands and plans re Taiwan and gave them the perfect reason and ammunition they needed to take all the actions they have against Taiwan that we’ve seen over the last two weeks in ostensible retaliation for said trip.
CHINA PLANNING TO IMPOSE NO-FLY ZONE NORTH OF TAIWAN APRIL 16-18: SOURCES
Discussed in the first post on the subject matter, Fractional Reserve Banking + the United States having the largest debt in human history at over 20 trillion dollars + the largest budget in history now topping 1 trillion + one of the highest Debt/GDP ratios on planet earth + other large nations, some of whom are part of the New Communist Alliance, working feverishly to undermine and usurp the U.S. dollar from being the world’s most popular and reserve currency = a very important aspect of an impending potential global military conflict. More in the video below:
The decline in bank lending looks bad, down $100b in two weeks, the biggest two week fall since '01 (since '09 on a % basis.) But loans are still 18% above the pre-pandemic level. Some adjustment was inevitable. Will need to be sustained and not replaced by other sources to have… pic.twitter.com/ta1qdv6LE1
#BREAKING: Finally with the end of a 5-day long military exercise, #Azerbaijan Army started its military operation against #Armenia today. Clash in the border area between Lachin and Sivnik province of #Armenia is now started. pic.twitter.com/h8n4NqerYg
— Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) April 11, 2023
Although not specifically evidentiary to an impending global military conflict, Myanmar, or Burma, has been a concern for many for a decade as it so easily illustrates the intense struggle humanity still faces between a world of democracy, fairness, justice and human rights or one shaped by military juntas, communism, dictatorships and authoritarianism.
Myanmar Military Attack —- At least 50 people, including civilians, were killed in central Myanmar early Tuesday after the nation’s military junta launched an airstrike on an antigovernment ceremony outside the city of Mandalay, the nation’s second-largest. Members of the People’s Defense Force—the armed wing of the opposition, prodemocracy National Unity Government—were opening a local office in Pa Zi Gyi village when fighter jets attacked.
Myanmar—also known as Burma—has been fighting one of the world’s longest-running civil wars, a conflict driven by the country’s nearly 100 ethnic minorities (see background). Despite a brief period of multiparty democracy last decade, a coup in 2021 returned the southeastern Asian country to military rule, prompting lawmakers from jailed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party to form an alternative government, which today reportedly controls almost half of the country’s territory.
The junta has promised to hold elections in August of this year after extending a February 2021 state of emergency for the third time.
Fareed Zakaria makes mention of the New Cold War the world has found itself in, a fact that most people still don’t understand or recognize. I take it one step further obviously and have a feeling we’re just getting started. A new world order is in already deep in transition from western forces to the New Communist Alliance, but it won’t happen without a fight.
Not “directly” related to a massive global military conflict A to B per se, unless you’ve been reading these pages closely of course. Then it makes perfect sense. As with all global empires and superpowers throughout human history, the United States amassed an enormous debt, in fact the largest one the world has ever seen in 6,000 years of recorded history; so big in fact that it has been unable to run the business of its government or the nation itself without doing so from a HUGE budget deficit every year. Put simply the United States of America is broke. Not just broke but busted. Bankrupt. Destitute. More so than any other country on planet earth. The only things keeping it going are two: 1. The fact that it’s currency the US Dollar or USD was corruptly forced upon the world and every country in it to be “the world’s currency”, i.e. other nation states are forced to use their own currencies to BUY US dollars in order to buy or sell energy and oil. Incipient? Definitely. But very beneficial for Americans. The ——
CHINA REFUSES TO USE OPEN CHANNEL WITH PENTAGON OVER TAIWAN
China wants the Ukraine war to last as long as possible to deplete Western military capacity before invading Taiwan. It’s working: we think we appear stronger by helping Ukraine, but we actually become weaker vis-à-vis China. pic.twitter.com/58QtXyVGIp
#BREAKING Meeting between foreign ministers of Türkiye, Russia, Iran, Syria is being planned to be held early May in Moscow, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu says pic.twitter.com/1F5ucL8QKe
