Techo-feudal world not for me

 

 

AMAZON’S IMPENDING TAKEOVER: The One-Stop Shop for Smart Cities with Digital Currency Control

By Corey's Digs

This sounds like a dystopian science fiction movie, but unfortunately, it’s already in the works, they are just putting the final touches on their master plan. A “smart city?” Shop for products, food, and healthcare while [they are] tracking us? A biometrics palm scanner? All autonomous vehicles and public transit? No more cash or credit cards – all digital currency? The ability to freeze our accounts or prevent us from purchasing certain items? Does this sound crazy? It should! Let’s take a look at the rollout and possible ways to navigate and combat some of this.

Amazon’s been quite busy progressing in areas most people are unaware of. This goes far beyond taking out the little guys – they’re going for the middlemen, and heading straight for your family. How are they pulling all of this off?

Amazon’s “Takeover” Consists of 3 Stages, In A Nutshell:

Stage One: Obliterate the competition by taking over the organic food market, media, crushing all bookstores to control content, provide nearly every consumer product and get others to sell through your shop, and beefing up production with expedited shipping to make it so desirable, no one can compete, and everyone comes to rely on Amazon.

Stage Two: Capitalize on an event that demolishes small businesses, demolishes remaining competition, crushes the farming industry, increase service by billions while people are stuck in their homes, and consolidate power forces to takeover other markets. Produce drones for delivery and autonomous cars for getting around smart cities. Create blockchain and step up air freight to soar past the delivery competition. Make all of it sound like you are saving humanity during hard times.

Stage Three: Continue to expand products and services, add a healthcare division, grocery delivery, implement digital currency, expand the AI division, then step down as CEO to focus on the final stages of the agenda.

What the Heck is A “Smart City?”

“Smart Cities” and “smart growth” are the talk of the town among the so-called elite, philanthropists, mayors, and of course the UN. They want you to believe they are creating ultra-convenient cities where everything you need is at your fingertips. That’s right – smartphones, smart cars, smart public transportation, smart shopping, smart TVs, smart health – you name it, AI is here to save the day and track you all the way. This is neither myth or fantasy. In fact, the infrastructure has already begun in your city, long ago.

 

Is Amazon Part of The “Smart City” Plan?

You betcha! Apart from all of their “smart” (spying) devices to fill everyone’s “smart homes” in their “smart cities,” their AWS cloud is high on their list, as noted on their city transformation page: “Public sector innovation is moving faster than ever before, delivering cloud-connected thinking that is revolutionizing cities across the world. Harness the power of Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, artificial intelligence, and more.” They talk about how the “smart city” and community environments will involve connecting “smart devices” and systems in sectors such as transportation, energy, manufacturing, and healthcare in fundamentally new ways that will “enhance the quality of life.” Be “smart,” and don’t be fooled.

Here is a short clip of Bill Gates talking about it a few years ago, but the plans began decades before. Whether or not Gates plans to build a “smart city” on the land he purchased in Phoenix is irrelevant, because they are already underway in thousands of cities across the country and the world. Keep your eyes open for Corey’s Digs report coming out in the near future, on this specifically, with detailed instructions on “OUTsmarting” them.

See the rest of this article here

Brits attempt return to imperial glory

 

 

As British Warships Deploy to Black Sea, Putin Warns of Red Lines

 

By Finian Cunningham

The British are being told that they cannot just sail their warships into the Black Sea and rattle their sabers in Russia’s face. Putin is telling the Brits and anyone else not to even think about getting that close.

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a stern warning to countries trying to provoke military tensions, saying that his nation is drawing up red lines for defense.

Putin delivered the sharp remarks during his annual state-of-the-nation address to lawmakers from both chambers of the Russian parliament. The stark warning comes amid spiraling tensions over Ukraine between Western supporters of the Kiev regime and Russia.

Specifically, days before Putin’s set-piece speech, British media reported that Britain’s Royal Navy is planning to deploy two warships to the Black Sea: a Type-45 destroyer armed with anti-aircraft missiles; and a frigate for hunting submarines. A British ministry of defense spokesman is quoted as saying the move was a sign of “unwavering support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity” in the face of alleged Russian aggression.

The British deployment is planned to take place in the coming weeks. The two warships will transit Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait to enter the Black Sea. International shipping is permitted under the Montreux Convention. However, the British plan seems far from an innocent passage, and a rather more calculated provocation.

The two ships will be part of a bigger battle group, the newly launched HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier which will station in the East Mediterranean. The battle group will be able to supply F-35B Lightning fighter jets and Merlin helicopters with submarine-hunting missiles. All in all, it is a pretty audacious attempt by the British to raise tensions with Russia.

It is notable that the United States last week abruptly cancelled sending two of its guided-missile destroyers to the Black Sea after Russia mobilized its own fleet in the region and warned the Americans to “stay away”. Days later, the British seem to have stepped into the breach with their proposed Black Sea operation. Did the Biden administration ask London to step up to the plate and to show “solidarity”, or is the British maneuver a gambit to curry favor with Washington by flexing AngloSaxon muscles for Uncle Sam?

 

In any case, London’s move comes on the back of an already brazen buildup of British military forces in the Black Sea. Britain has previously sent naval personnel and equipment to train Ukrainian warships. The Royal Air Force has also dispatched a squadron of Typhoon fighter jets to patrol the Black Sea in support of the Kiev regime and its claim to take back control of the Crimean Peninsula. The Peninsula voted in a referendum in March 2014 to join the Russian Federation after a NATO-backed coup d’état in Kiev the previous month which ushered in an anti-Russian regime.

The Kiev regime has also been stepping up its violations of the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine where ethnic Russian populations have declared breakaway republics in defiance of the 2014 NATO-backed coup. Civilian centers in Donetsk and Luhansk are being shelled on a daily basis. This is clearly a cynical attempt by the Kiev regime to escalate the civil war in such a way as to drag NATO further into the conflict. Russia has mobilized sizable army divisions on the border with Ukraine in what Moscow says is a matter of national self-defense. Yet, ironically, the United States, Britain, and other NATO powers are demanding Russia to “de-escalate” tensions.

NATO’s very public backing for the Kiev regime and the supply of American lethal weaponry is no doubt emboldening the regime to step up its offensive fire on Eastern Ukraine and making menacing moves towards Crimea.

The British are in particular giving the Kiev regime a dangerous sense of military license for its bravado towards Moscow.

The situation is an extremely dangerous powder-keg. One wrong move, even unintended, could spark off a wider war involving the NATO powers and Russia.

In this highly combustible context, Russia is right to close off areas in the Black Sea that encompass its territorial waters. Those areas include the coastal waters off the Crimean Peninsula.

 

Crimean War 1853-1856 - Russia has not forgotten Britain's role in that disaster

NATO powers sending warships into the region is the height of criminal folly. If Britain and other members of the U.S.-led alliance contend that they are “defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity” then the logic of that position dictates that they will attempt to make an incursion into Crimean coastal water since they don’t recognize Russia’s sovereignty. In that event, a military confrontation is bound to happen.

President Putin’s declaration of red lines is not so much a rhetorical putting it up to the West. It is a responsible position to prevent a war from breaking out.

The British are being told that they cannot just sail their warships into the Black Sea and rattle their sabers in Russia’s face. Putin is telling the Brits and anyone else not to even think about getting that close.

Blast from the past: Maine Walk for Peace

 

 

Peace walk from Ellsworth, Maine to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It took 16 glorious days of hard work, community building and full of good spirits.

Still inpiring to watch this video - thanks Regis Tremblay for producing it.

Washington's domination of Australia

 

Western media portrays Australia as a beautiful nation with independent people and a close ally of the United States. 

But the American Empire has no allies, only vassal states. 

Australia became a colony of the American empire in 1975 after an Anglo-American directed coup. 

Most Australians hardly noticed since Australia had been a British colony since its inception and dispatches military forces when ordered to fight imperial wars. 

These days Washington has sent Australia after China. 

Situation in Iran & Afghanistan

 

David Andersson speaks with Bahman Azad, Executive Secretary with the U.S. Peace Council and an NGO representative of the World Peace Council at the United Nations. Bahman is originally from Iran.

Where are we standing with the Iran Nuclear Deal and how to understand the removing of U.S. troops from Afghanistan on September 11, promised by President Biden?

'It's politicized intelligence'

 

On this episode of Going Underground, they interview former MI6 agent Alastair Crooke. 

He discusses the alleged Israeli Mossad attack on the Natanz nuclear facility, and the division among Israel’s politicians about whether to continue pursuing Netanyahu’s maximum containment policy.

Also discussed is the landmark strategic deal signed between Iran and China and how it changes the game in the Middle East. 

In addition the war in Syria and how the UK, US and other Western allies are preventing reconstruction efforts, Western support for Islamists in Syria and much more! 

Get Pelosi off the TV!

 

 

Jimmy Dore tells the truth....more on cop killing, Pelosi's horrible words about George Floyd - thanks him for his 'sacrifice'.

Latest from Russia

 

RT reports:

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has announced that troops deployed in the west and south of the country in recent days will soon begin returning to base, saying they have now passed tests of their combat readiness.

The chief of the country’s military revealed on Thursday that a number of units of the regular army and airborne divisions had been transferred to the area, near the shared border with Ukraine, as part of surprise military exercises. The buildup had caused alarm in Kiev, and been cited by Western nations as a potential precursor to an invasion, which the Kremlin repeatedly denied.

According to Shoigu, “the goals of the sudden inspection have been fully achieved. The troops demonstrated their ability to ensure reliable defense of the country.”

As a result, he has now ordered commanders to “plan and begin the return of troops to their places of regular deployment, beginning from April 23.” By the end of the month, the minister said, “the personnel of the 58th Army of the Southern Military District, the 41st Army of the Central Military District, the 7th, 76th Air Assault and 98th Airborne Divisions of the Airborne Forces” will return to their normal bases.

However, he warned that the army would “react and respond adequately to all changes in the situation near Russian borders.”

 

From The Saker:

This is an excerpt of the (relatively short) part of Putin’s speech (April 21) dealing with foreign issues:

“We really want to maintain good relations with all those engaged in international communication, including, by the way, those with whom we have not been getting along lately, to put it mildly. We really do not want to burn bridges. But if someone mistakes our good intentions for indifference or weakness and intends to burn or even blow up these bridges, they must know that Russia’s response will be asymmetrical, swift and tough.

Those behind provocations that threaten the core interests of our security will regret what they have done in a way they have not regretted anything for a long time.

At the same time, I just have to make it clear, we have enough patience, responsibility, professionalism, self-confidence and certainty in our cause, as well as common sense, when making a decision of any kind. But I hope that no one will think about crossing the “red line” with regard to Russia. We ourselves will determine in each specific case where it will be drawn.” 

US Order against Russia: Italy at attention

 

A Bath, Maine built Navy Aegis (Arleigh Burke class) destroyer prowling the waters of the Black Sea helping (not to defend America) but to take CIA directed instability to the Russian coast on behalf of corporate capital.

Art of war

By Manlio Dinucci (il manifesto, Italy)

Italian Foreign Minister Di Maio and Italian Defense Minister Guerini were urgently summoned to NATO headquarters in Brussels for an extraordinary meeting of the North Atlantic Council on April 15: the same day, in Washington President Biden signed the "Executive Order Against Harmful Foreign Activities of the Russian Government". 

As reported by the media, the Executive Order not only decreed expulsions of diplomats and economic sanctions, but established "If Russia continues or intensifies its destabilizing international actions",  then "The United States will impose such costs as to cause a strategic impact on Russia". 

It precisely is the preparation for the "strategic impact", that is an intensified political-military escalation against Russia. The North Atlantic Council was convened at the level of  Foreign and Defense Ministers of the 30 NATO countries and formally chaired by the Secretary-General Stoltenberg, in reality by US Secretary of State Blinken and US Defense Secretary Austin.

 

The North Atlantic Council - the Alliance political body  which according to NATO rules decides not by majority but always "unanimously and by mutual agreement" or in agreement with what Washington decided - has immediately and unanimously approved a 'Declaration of solidarity with the United States on actions announced on April 15, to respond to Russia's destabilizing activities'. 

The Council then listed the charges against Russia: "Destabilizing and provocative behavior, violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Georgia, interference in US and Allied elections, vast disinformation campaign, use of nerve gas against Navalny, support for attacks on US/NATO forces in Afghanistan, violation of agreements on non-proliferation and disarmament”, the same words as in the Biden Executive order.

US military radar in Vardo, Norway - right up close to the Russian border.  It tracks Russian military operations and would assist in missile targeting during a US-NATO attack

 

Regarding these accusations just consider one for all, the latter:  who accused Russia of having violated the agreements on non-proliferation and disarmament is the United States, which has always violated the Non-proliferation Treaty deploying nuclear weapons in Italy and other European countries, and tearing up the INF Treaty by reopening the way for new nuclear missiles installation in Europe.  

The escalation is not just verbal. The day before the North Atlantic Council meeting, the US Army in Europe announced that it will hold back three bases in Germany that it should have returned to the German government, because it will receive two new operational units in the coming months.  

The same day Washington announced an agreement with Norway allowing the US to have four air and naval bases on the border with Russia. In the meantime, the US destroyer Arleigh Burke [made in Bath, Maine] has returned to Europe after undergoing a modernization that has "increased the range and capacity of its armaments". 

The Arleigh Burke destroyer is one of the four advanced deployment missile units of the Sixth Fleet that operate mainly in the Baltic and Black Sea under the orders of the US Naval Forces Command in Europe (their headquarters are in Naples-Capodichino). 

These ships are equipped with Lockheed Martin Mk 41 vertical launchers, capable of launching (according to official technical specifications) "missiles for all missions: anti-aircraft, anti-ship, and attack against land targets". These latter, including the Tomahawk missile, can be armed with a conventional warhead or a nuclear warhead. 

Without knowing it, Russia might assume there are nuclear attack missiles aboard these ships near its territory. 

[In addition the Pentagon has deployed these same systems on land in Romania and Poland - calls them 'Aegis Ashore' launch platforms. It's a Cuban Missile Crisis in reverse and the public knows nothing about it. But they have probably heard about Navalny.]

While London also announced the forthcoming missile unit dispatch to the Black Sea, Moscow announced that no passage of foreign warships will be allowed through Russian territorial waters in three areas of the Black Sea from  April 24 to  October 31. 

The situation will become even tenser when next summer the US-Ukraine Sea Breeze exercise will take place in the Black Sea with over 30 ships supported by airplanes, helicopters, and drones and the participation of other NATO countries. 

History flashback: Why NATO's destruction of Libya?

 

 

Who gave NATO forces in Libya the right to eliminate Qaddafi? 

This story is one example of why Putin is demonized by the west.  The US-NATO claim that they cherish the 'rule of law'. But in the case of Libya (2011) we saw the destruction of that nation and the ugly street assassination of Qaddafi. What about his right to a fair trial? Washington was afraid to put him on the witness stand.

(Recall Hillary Clinton's famous words at the time: "We came, we saw, he died"). Clinton showed her dark heart in that moment.  Pure arrogance.

 

Overthrowing Qaddafi was a humanitarian and strategic debacle. It was also illegal under international law.  But who would ever hold US-NATO responsible for these crimes?

So when Putin dared to simply raise questions he signaled to Washington-Brussels that he was not playing along with their game.  This was around the time that the vicious demonization of Putin and Russia really ramped up.

I know it is not 'popular' to defend Putin (or Qaddafi for that matter) but I'm an old man now and have little to lose - except my own conscience.

This is the world we live in today.  Anyone who dares to defend the demonized is demonized in return. People say, "You must have been Putinized".

My response is no - I'm actually an independent thinker who just searches for truth and tries to actually defend international law - even if that is not the popular thing to do - especially for those who live inside the most unlawful nation on the planet.

Bruce 

Democracy when?

 

 

Aaron Mate used to work for Amy Goodman at Democracy Now. 

He confirms what many around the nation have been saying for some years - Amy Goodman has joined the corporate demonization line on Syria, Russia and more. 

Why?

Money talks. 

Russia & Belarus claim US-backed assassination & COUP against Lukashenko failed

 

The Saker writes:

Amazing news over the week-end: President Lukashenko [Belarus] has declared that Biden gave the order to kill him in a coup organized by the CIA.  Now, we all know that Lukashenko says all sorts of things, many of them false or plain silly.  Except that the Russian FSB has confirmed it all!  According to the Russians, a joint operation of the (Belorussian) KGB and the Russian FSB has uncovered the plot early on and the Russians monitored the full operation until they had enough evidence to arrest all the plotters.  Not only do the Russians have videos of their meetings, they also intercepted their Zoom video conferences.

Unlike the US/UK and others, the Russian FSB did not say that they were “confident” that it was “highly likely” that this operation took place.  They released all the footage of a meeting of the plotters in Moscow which confirms it all (I don’t have the time to translate that footage, but I am confident that somebody will).

Much more relevantly, the Kremlin fully confirmed the story and the Russian media discussed it at length.  It also became known that Putin and Biden discussed this topic during their telephone call (ironic, no? Biden called Putin a ‘killer’ while the self same “Biden” tried to kill a foreign head of state).  

Not surprisingly no western media had said a word about this attempted coup in Belarus although the 'free press' do keep talking about Navalny's hunger strike.

Time for a treaty to ban weapons in space

 

Letter to the New York Times

By Alice Slater

It is ironic that in his reporting of President Biden’s decision to pull US troops out of Afghanistan, finally ending the US’s 20 year failed and brutal efforts for reform, David Sanger strangely concludes, not that we need more peace in the world, but that we need to focus on “far bigger strategic challenges—in space and in cyber space” coming from Russia and China.  

Perhaps Sanger is unaware that only days earlier, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, in acknowledging the 60th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s April 12, 1961 accomplishment as the first man to orbit the Earth, also reminded the world of Russia’s repeated calls for the prevention of an arms race in space as well as Russia’s past rejected efforts, together with China, to start negotiations on a draft of a treaty to ban space weapons. 

 

Both nations submitted drafts to the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva, in 2008 and again in 2014. Sadly, the US blocked all discussion of a space ban treaty in that consensus bound forum.   Also, perhaps Sanger was unaware of the Times own coverage of Putin’s offer to President Obama in 2009 to negotiate a treaty to ban cyber war.

In the midst of this current brutal media blitz demonizing both Russia and China, the NY Times should be wary of leading with skewed, immoral or untruthful charges similar to the media onslaught that led up to the catastrophic war in Iraq.  At that sorry time, the Times acknowledged its erroneous front-page reports of Saddam Hussein’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction, which contributed to the chaos that ensued.  

When discussing the wrongdoing of other nations, it is essential that we examine the role the US has played in the current hostilities, not only in space, but in cyber-warfare, NATO expansion, abandoning the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, surrounding Russia and China with military bases, and other aggressive postures-- driven clearly by what President, formerly General, Eisenhower warned us against -- the Military-Industrial Complex.    

The Times must follow the money and tell the truth.

Sincerely,

Alice Slater
New York, NY 

Rocket Lab: Growing opposition in New Zealand

 

By Murray Horton

Rocket Lab started life as a small New Zealand company but is now much bigger and has become the local subsidiary of a US company, with its owners including arms industry behemoths such as Lockheed Martin. 

It specialises in frequent launches of small satellites for clients including a range of US military and intelligence agencies. These launches are conducted from New Zealand, which prides itself on being nuclear free (it was kicked out of the ANZUS Treaty in 1986 by the other two parties - the US and Australia - for having banned US nuclear warships from entering. That remains the status quo today). 

NZ also claims to have an independent foreign policy. But it remains the most junior of the Five Eyes global electronic spying network (with the US, UK, Canada and Australia). Having Rocket Lab operating a private enterprise space port in New Zealand for US military and intelligence agencies, with the active backing of Jacinda Ardern's Government, totally undermines that claim.
 
Rocket Lab has, up until recently, received uncritical, even adulatory, coverage by the NZ news media. That, plus the fact that its' launch pad is in a very remote, sparsely populated area (the Mahia Peninsula on the North Island's east coast) means that it has been off the radar (pardon the pun) of the NZ public. 

 

 

In 2021 that is now changing. Mainstream media coverage has become more critical, the best example being  "Mahia, We Have A Problem", by Ollie Neas in the March 2021 North & South (a national monthly magazine). And opposition has started, right in Rocket Lab's back yard, in the Mahia area, led by local Maori women (Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand). 

There was a protest against Rocket Lab's most recent military satellite launch; the group - Rocket Lab Monitor - has taken its case to the local media; and, via billboards, etc, directly to the people. They have set up a Website. 

Opposition is also being organised on a more national scale - New Zealand is one of the most urbanised countries in the world and Rocket Lab's assembly plant and headquarters is situated in the country's biggest city, Auckland.
 
Murray Horton
Secretary/Organiser
Anti-Bases Campaign
Christchurch, New Zealand

Israel fears growing international support for Palestine

 

Going Underground speaks to world-renowned Israeli historian Prof. Ilan Pappé. 

He discusses the situation in Gaza and the West Bank on Palestinian Prisoner Day, the strength of the pro-Israel lobby in both the U.K. and the United States, why the ‘two-state solution’ is a cover for the West’s inaction, the pro-Palestinian shift in American public opinion, the antisemitism allegations that brought down Jeremy Corbyn and much more!

Sunday song