Sunday song

NATO war mongers ramping up against Russia

The US-NATO started the proxy war on Russia using Ukraine as the hammer.

It began with the 2014 US-NATO orchestrated coup d'état in Kiev during the Obama administration. Coordinated by Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Victoria Nuland.

From there it moved to US-NATO directed attacks on the Donbass region bordering Russia where Russian ethnics were killed and wounded by the tens of thousands.

Russia worked hard to end this insanity via the Minsk 1 & 2 agreements which Ukraine (who had signed them) repeatedly violated. I've been reporting on this since 2014.

Now that the US-NATO have lost their proxy war on Russia they are doubling down and trying to scare the hell out of the European populations. They are essentially saying, 'Give us more money so we can keep this war on Russia going. If we don't keep arming then Russia will invade all of Europe'.

Sadly most of the corrupt leadership in nations like Germany, France, UK, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Poland and more are pushing this insane message.

Thankfully a couple nations in the EU led by Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia reject this war-mongering agenda. I would hope the citizens throughout the EU would reject this but are they willing to throw out of power these corrupt war mongers like Mark Rutte?

For the sake of world peace let's hope so. Russia has repeatedly made clear they they have no intention of invading all of Europe. But if the EU-NATO crazies keep pushing and end up widening the current war on Russia they just might create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The goal of the US-NATO has always been to turn Ukraine into a base for destabilizing military and economic operations on the Russian border. Everything from NATO base expansion, GMO farming, resource extraction all toward the ultimate goal of weakening and breaking Russia up into smaller nations more easily controlled by the west.

Now add Blackrock's Larry Fink coming to Ukraine's rescue. Right on schedule. As the Native Americans used to say, 'Put your ear to the railroad tracks and hear the train coming'.

Bruce  

Update:

US House passes $900 BILLION National Defense Authorization Act. The bill provides $800 million in military aid for Ukraine over the next two years.

Next Palestine/Venezuela solidarity protest in Mid-coast Maine

the funnies

Chair of Joint Chiefs: 'We are creating multiple simultaneous dilemmas'

By Brian Berletic

So when you see “dilemmas” pop up along China or Russia’s periphery, like say on the border of Thailand and Cambodia amid a sudden pivot by Cambodia toward the US militarily, this is a high-ranking US official admitting what the big picture is….

Here is the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, admitting that the US is pursuing an “Extending Russia” policy against ALL designated US adversaries, including Russia, China, and Iran. [And Venezuela.]

This strategy has served as the basis of US foreign policy for decades, and is the foundation neo-conservative driven US hegemony has been based on.

Beyond deliberately misleading corporate media headlines, inside the halls of corporate funded think tanks, the truth is admitted openly in forums they know the general public and even many commentators will never hear or see.

Thai-Cambodian Conflict

Thai army reports “English-speaking foreigners” involved in controlling Ukraine-style FPV drones including fiber-optic controlled drones.

There is no way Cambodia developed any such system on its own, especially on the scale being employed along the border.

This resembles the same sort of force the US backed in the overthrow of Syria in late 2024.

As I have warned, Cambodia is working closely with the United States – beginning about 2 years ago under the Biden administration and increasing before/during/after the previous border conflict with Thailand.

The US has openly stated it will create “multiple, simultaneous dilemmas” for China – including obviously by disrupting its cooperation with Southeast Asia through this senseless, destructive, and costly conflict the US is also using as an opportunity to inject itself into the region.

Let's see - Chinese or American?

Sabby Sabs on Marjorie Taylor Greene/Trump public fight

Marjorie Taylor Greene was interviewed on CBS 60 Minutes TV show.

MTG is showing signs of life and spirit. She often talks about how the ruling oligarchs are trying to pit us against each other. It appears she is figuring things out.

Sabby stands with MTG and expresses her delightfully strong outrage. Sabby is one of my favs. Smart with a great heart!

Sabby concludes with a sigh, 'This is politics....we have to fight back against the corruption'. 

Bruce  

Grabbing Maine's water

Poland Spring is raking in millions by bottling and selling Maine's water — and throwing their weight around in state politics to keep profits flowing. 

During a drought this year, they publicly said they were cutting back.

But we found evidence they're pumping even more. 

Returning the buffalo to the people

This documentary tells the story of the Blackfoot people striving to re-establish wild buffalo on tribal land in Montana after 100 years of absence. 

The film recounts efforts to restore buffalo, land, traditional culture and bring healing to the Blackfeet community. 

All my relations.

Narrated and executive produced by Oscar nominee, Blackfeet/Nez Perce actor, Lily Gladstone, the film has been an audience favorite at festivals. 

The US Army sent sharpshooters on trains across the western prairies to shoot the buffalo in order to starve the native people. These were the kinds of signs that the native people witnessed that made them know the white people were spiritually disconnected from Mother Earth and were capable of destroying all nature and life. 

Alastair Crooke: Trump's Bait and Switch... Netanyahu's Extortion

Always excellent info and analysis from Alastair Crooke who is a former British diplomat, and is the founder and director of the Beirut-based Conflicts Forum.

It's an organization that advocates for engagement between political Islam and the West.

Previously he was a ranking figure in both British intelligence (MI6) and European Union diplomacy.

Crooke is not a crook. He's one of the remarkably few who came out of the deep recesses of his government with a conscience and the courage to tell the truth about what the UK, and its allies, are truly doing around the world.

He comments that the UK's MI6 (intel agency) is likely not sharing the daily realities in places like Ukraine, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran and more. 

He shares that the EU has no true identity which contributed to it becoming a US agent as behind the scenes leader in the Ukraine proxy war on Russia. Just recall former Prime Minister Boris Johnson flying to the Ukraine-Russia negotiations and ordering Zelensky to back out of the peace deal he had just signed with Moscow. 

Judge Napolitano is patient and morally committed to sharing the truth. He's become a huge global asset to the movements for real democracy, sovereignty, disarmament and peace.

Bruce  

Free Imran Kahn!

Past Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is being held in a death cell in solitary confinement, his court-imposed rights ignored. 

He's been held for years on one bogus charge after another. Many believe the US had him arrested and thrown in prison.

His real crime? He refused to condemn Russia for defending Russian ethnics in the Donbass as Ukrainian Nazis rampaged against them since the US orchestrated coup in 2014.  

Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party walk past a banner of their leader and jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan during a protest demanding his release in Peshawar on September 27, 2025. 

Digital prices rise while shopping - adding to corporate profits

 

In this Opinion Video, the story is told of a little piece of technology that has delivered enormous benefits to consumers — and is in danger of disappearing. It’s called the price tag. Yes, the price tag.

Businesses increasingly are using algorithms to determine prices, and to rapidly adjust those prices throughout the day. This new technology is called dynamic pricing, and it’s poised to change the way businesses set and advertise their prices. Think of the ever-changing electronic signs at gas stations, but for everything.

Businesses can use dynamic pricing to deliver better deals to customers. But they also are using the new technology to jack up prices. As the video says, the humble price tag “was like a little handshake. It represented an agreement, one price for every customer. But now that agreement is breaking.” And we are all going to pay.

Another Trump peace debacle - Thailand & Cambodia

By Brian Berletic 

Just like any other “peace deal” the US brokers (amid conflicts of its own engineering) the “peace” between Thailand and Cambodia collapsed (and really didn’t exist to begin with).

There have been constant skirmishes and incidents along the border all throughout the “peace,” and now open hostilities are escalating once again.

This includes mortars, grenades, small arms, warplanes, and the repositioning of rocket launchers and tanks.

It should be noted that at the time of the first round of fighting, there was a US-backed regime running both Cambodia and Thailand. The US-backed Thai administration was removed from power because of its involvement in the border conflict – Thailand now has a sort of interim government in place.

Unfortunately, Cambodia has over the last 1-2 years pivoted hard toward the US, its new PM (the former PM’s son) is a West Point grad and has signed a raft of military cooperation agreements with the US.

As the National Security Strategy has made clear – the US seeks to expand its containment of China in Asia-Pacific and will do so by enlisting its existing proxies and “expand” available proxies through “soft power” (proxy conflict, coercion, and regime change).

Keep ALL of this in mind as hostilities unfold along the Thai-Cambodian border.

~ Brian Berletic is an ex-US Marine Corps independent geopolitical researcher and writer based in Bangkok, Thailand.

Brian Berletic: More on the US National Security Strategy paper

Here are Sputnik’s questions and my complete answers regarding the recently released US National Security Strategy document.

Question: In the recently published National Security Strategy of the US, NATO’s expansion is criticized, and Russia is no longer presented as a threat, but as a country with which strategic stability is important for stability in Europe.

What prompted the US to make such changes in the Strategy? Why now?

Answer: Upon reading the entire National Security Strategy, it is clear there is no fundamental change. The very first sentence of the introduction is a declaration of continued pursuit of global primacy. The paper lays out plans of continued war and preparations for war against all of America’s “adversaries” both directly and through “burden sharing,” by proxy.

While it briefly mentions “preventing the reality of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance,” the same paper also boasts of the vast sums of NATO spending that the US coerced European member states into committing to.

Regarding the paper’s characterization of Russia, it should be pointed out that the US desperately seeks to freeze the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, not end it. As suggested in the paper and explicitly stated by US Secretary of War Pete Hegesth in February of this year, Europe will assume more costs and risks in forcing a freeze while the US focuses on containing China.

In other words, this is merely a narrative to implement “burden sharing” and “strategic sequencing,” focusing on China’s containment now and circling back around to containing Russia later.

Question: The Ukraine settlement is mentioned as the US’s core interest. The document says that the peace process is crucial for reestablishing strategic stability with Russia. How could it influence the ongoing peace talks?

Answer: The US began this proxy war by overthrowing the Ukrainian government in 2014, leading efforts to train and reorganize Ukraine’s armed forces from 2014 to 2022, while the CIA assumed control over Ukraine’s intelligence services. The US began arming Ukraine with lethal aid (under the previous Trump administration), and now admittedly directs Ukraine’s armed forces from a military base in Wiesbaden, Germany, including overseeing attacks on targets deep within Russian territory itself – all while posing as an impartial mediator in a war the US itself started and is driving.

This is wholly a US proxy war on Russia; the US, and the US alone, can bring to an end. It simply doesn’t want to. What it wants instead is a “Minsk 3.0” freeze, to rebuild both Ukraine and Europe’s military capacity, all by offering Russia the same empty promises of peace, stability, and even economic cooperation that have been repeatedly betrayed since the end of the Cold War. An added bonus would be driving a wedge between Russia and China during this temporary freezing of the conflict to weaken China, so that when the US turns its attention back to Russia, China will no longer be able to offer significant support.

Question: The Strategy criticizes NATO expansion, which Russia had been calling a critical issue and a key reason for the Ukraine conflict. What are the realistic chances of the alliance’s expansion being limited in the future, now that the issue has been acknowledged by the US?

Answer: Even though the US ambiguously acknowledged NATO’s expansion in the paper, it also bragged about the vast sums of money the US has coerced European member states into spending on NATO – spending specifically vis-à-vis Russia – as NATO and its various member states face no actual national security threats requiring such vast sums of expenditures.

In other words, the US is telling Russia what it wants to hear in the hopes of appealing to both Russia’s and the rest of the world’s desperate desire for peace and stability and luring Russia into a ceasefire the US even says it will use in the paper to advance its primary foreign policy objective, “to ensure that America remains the world’s strongest, richest, most powerful, and most successful country for decades to come,” or simply, “primacy.”

Question: What signal does this move send to warmongers in the US and especially in Europe?

Answer: Considering the paper begins with US President Donald Trump boasting about vastly expanding US military spending (up to $1 trillion), the unprovoked, unjustified war of aggression the US launched on Iran under the current Trump administration, and the growing threat of military aggression against Venezuela, it would seem the paper itself was authored by warmongers.

The paper outlines an unprecedented military build-up and containment strategy targeting China, which is at the top of the list of US-European warmongers. The outlined strategy is simply trying to put the proxy war with Russia on hold, considering how poorly it is going for the US and its proxies at the moment, until a time later when the US once again has the advantage, just as it did with its proxy war in Syria, which it finally, successfully won late last year.

Unfortunately, wishful thinking will only play into Washington’s hands, hands that – without exception – are bloodied by decades of military aggression, aggression that sees no signs of slowing any time in the foreseeable future.

~ Brian Berletic is an ex-US Marine Corps independent geopolitical researcher and writer based in Bangkok, Thailand.

History lesson: Struggle against navy base on Jeju Island

Wonderful, heart breaking, inspiring and much more is this documentary film about the long struggle against the navy base in Gangjeong village on Jeju Island in South Korea. 

Director Sung-Bong, Jo writes, "I will never forget that the Korean government occupied Gangjeong village".

The 500-year old fishing and farming village of just over 1,000 people has now been swamped by the South Korean and US Navy. 

Aegis destroyers made at nearby Bath Iron Works in Maine regularly port in the village due to its close proximity to China. All part of the US 'pivot' into the region to encircle China, North Korea and even Russia.

Signs of resistance before the Gureombi rocky coast was blasted and concrete poured over it for the navy base.

I've been to Gangjeong numerous times over the years and was actually arrested there in 2012 along with other members of the Global Network (and South Korean folks). We concluded our GN annual meeting in the village with a civil resistance action of kayaking onto the sacred rocky coastline (Gureombi) and crawling under the razor wire where villagers have long worshipped their relatives who have passed on. 

You can see the video I made from that 2012 visit here.

Even now Korean activists daily protest at the navy base and then sing and dance outside the gates before gathering in their community kitchen for lunch. These are the most determined and resilient activists I've ever seen. 

The daily peace vigils have been held for 6,781 consecutive days as of December 9, 2025. (That comes out to 18.6 years.) I could never imagine any peace group in the US doing that over that same period of time. It really makes a difference when you are defending your sacred home and the nature you love.

Love and peace to them always.

Fighting!

Bruce  

Manufacturing Consent for Golden Dome

By Lisa Savage

 Weaponizing space is planned to proceed under the Golden Dome umbrella

I was in a bad mood yesterday anyway so I thought I might as well watch the recording of a panel discussion at the Reagan National “Defense” Forum 2025 on war in space. (Apparently the venue has not gotten the memo that “war” is replacing “defense” in U.S. public posturing.) After viewing this discussion, I’m guessing you’ll agree that imagining adversaries and threats as a pretext to massive investments in weapons systems is not really defense. This kind of b.s. sets my teeth on edge and I usually avoid it. Maybe I watched it so you won’t have to? But if you, too, are a glutton for punishment here it is: 

The forum was in California, unofficial HQ of the military-industrial-tech sector. What a great chance for luminaries of the MICIMATT to rub elbows! 

Defending the Homeland: Establishing Superiority in Space and Missile Defense had as panelists General Michael Guetlein as Director of Golden Dome, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, Kathy Warden as Chair/CEO/President of Pentagon contractor Northrop Grumman, and Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska.

It was moderated by Kristin Fisher of Endless Void Media with the kind of gushy fawning typical of media workers who prefer access over truth.

National Security mom Captain Olivia Walker in a typical scene from A House of Dynamite

Would it surprise you to know that the moderator and even some of the panelists structured their discussion around the recent thriller A House of Dynamite? (I reviewed the film here if you haven’t seen it.) Yes, hard as it may be to believe, a discussion involving two of the people primarily responsible for building the biggest industrial weapon system ever conceived centered it on the plot of a made-up story.

Specifically, as General Guetlein pointed out, the plot depended on there being no space component to the Pentagon’s capabilities. The government’s offensive defensive quandry: how to take out a missile radar shows as incoming but with an uncertain origin. This wouldn’t happen now that space is crammed with satellites performing surveillance and tracking functions for the military 24/7. So, fiction.

There was a lot of fiction being shared by panelists. Here is the sound of a declining empire whistling in the dark to shore up our morale.

Image source: “Why China Laughs at the Idea of Americans Taking Their Manufacturing Jobs,” Time Magazine, April 2025

Ready to build Golden Dome yesterday, CEO Warden claimed the U.S has three competitive advantages over adversaries (more like competitors, really): our people, our allies, and our industrial base. Earth to Warden: our people are undereducated and severely depressed/anxious from the stresses of living under late-stage capitalism. Our allies are either royally pissed off at our disrespect (Canada, Mexico, much of Europe) or being extorted so violently that their own populations are rising up against the deals made by their self-serving politicians (South Korea, Japan, Australia). And as for our industrial base, don’t make me laugh. Furious scrambling to invest now still cannot make up for decades of deindustrialization prioritizing profits over research and development, or over robust training and compensation for workers.

Image source: "the funnies,” Organizing Notes blog, December 2025

But have no fear! The real problem with the Pentagon getting what it pays for is the overly bureaucratic procurement process. Secretary of War Hegseth had addressed the forum earlier in the day about this very problem and assured the many contractors present that the U.S. was serious about “taking those handcuffs off.” Which begs the question, if the Pentagon has not passed an audit in years under the current procurement process how is cutting red tape likely to result in leaner, more effective procurement?

Fisher urged the panel to let taxpayers learn a bit more about the highly secretive and astronomically expensive Golden Dome. Senator Fischer reassured taxpayers that, “Kathy was just in Washington a few weeks ago to update us on where we are.” So even if you don’t know where your taxes are going you can rest easy, because a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee does. Isn’t it fun that they’re so chummy they’re on a first name basis? And per the Secretary of the Air Force, “We can't actually tell you anything because adversaries are listening.” How convenient.

But not to worry about the voice of the people, because panelists kept citing a survey that showed 75% of respondents were in favor of building Golden Dome. There’s no price tag and not much known about what will comprise its many layers. Just take it on faith, ok.

Or another way to think about it was supplied by the general: “A House of Dynamite was a good place to start the dialogue that we need to have as a nation.” He seems to suggest that the film fit right in with the timeline of building support for Golden Dome. What a coincidence!

The general threw around a lot of military jargon like “magazine depth” and “exquisite kit” to explain that the problem is not how to build highly technical weapons like space based interceptors, but how to “aggressively field many” in a way that is affordable.

Moderator Fisher finally asked the existential question late in the panel: “Will putting weapons in space accelerate an arms race in space?” But then almost immediately ruined the focus by worrying if future administrations could reverse said arms race. Of course they could, if they have the will. Kathy and Senator Fischer will no doubt work closely on that.

The general concluded by opining “space is not a sanctuary any more; ‘the adversary’ has been holding space at risk.” He then gave some examples of Chinese and Russian success at shooting down their own satellites, something the U.S. has also done. “Space is already contested,” he assured us. “We’re not starting that discussion.”

Secretary Meink jumped in to support the general: “All you have to do is go to the actual real news to see the level of threats we’re dealing with!” He then cited Russian attacks on Ukraine, apparently unaware of the old schoolyard maxim, Don’t start something you can’t finish. And in a nod to the Zionists who were definitely listening, he mentioned “all sorts of medium range missile attacks on Israel.”

Fisher asked them to compare and contrast Golden Dome vs Iron Dome. This led the general to say, “I worked with Israel on Iron Dome — but they are defending an area the size of New Jersey.” He then shared the only fact that surprised me: the “homeland” so often referenced that the U.S. will be defending includes not only Hawaii and Alaska — but Guam! Holy shit. Now we know for 100% certain that no matter how much money Kathy makes from the deal it will never work as advertised.

Would it surprise you to know that no one on the panel mentioned that Iron Dome failed to intercept missiles this summer coming from Yemen and Iran?

The final question of why now (if “now” means by the summer of 2028, that is) was addressed by Northup Gruman’s CEO. Are you ready? “So 9/11 never happens again.” If you’d like to leave a comment below explaining why this is absolute bunk, please feel free.

To hear an informed analysis by industry watchers who do not profit from Pentagon procurement, check out this webinar “Space Militarization” from three members of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. One presenter from the U.S., one from Canada, and one from Sweden share star wars facts on the ground as they are developing in their respective countries. Sponsored by Global Women for Peace - United Against NATO. 

~ Lisa Savage is a retired school teacher and part-time staff person with the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. She lives in Solon, Maine.