"Is Russia's Central Bank Chief a "Hostile Foreign Agent" Deliberately Sabotaging the Russian Economy?"

Mike Whitney

March 15, 2022

Interview with economist Paul Craig Roberts

“We could completely offset the negative consequences of financial sanctions if the Bank of Russia fulfilled its constitutional duty to ensure a stable ruble exchange rate, and not the recommendations of Washington financial organizations…. It was the connivance of the Central Bank which led to the fact that Russia and its industry were drained of blood and unable to develop.” Sergey Glazyev, Russian economist and author

“A person has to wonder why Russia has taken none of these steps that would bring instant agonizing cries from the stupid West and an immediate end to all sanctions and Russophobic propaganda. Russia can dictate the terms. Why does she forgo this power?” Paul Craig Roberts

 

Tell Me How Ukraine Ends

 PETER VAN BUREN

MARCH 14, 2022

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12:01 AM

Anything can happen, but Putin "losing" in Ukraine seems among the most unlikely of scenarios.

In the opening days of Iraq War 2.0, a wiser not-yet-General David Petraeus famously asked, “Tell me how this ends.” Petraeus understood that how wars end is more important than why they started. So how does the current war in Ukraine end?

Dangerous Times

When General Eisenhower was leaving the White House in January 17, 1961, in his farewell speech, he warned American people of the Military Industrial Complex. Why didn’t he do anything about this danger when he was in the office? The answer is clear. Presidents of the United States can make decisions about any issue that does not endanger the benefit of big businesses. The real control is in the hands of a few industrialists whose power exceeds beyond economics, and expands into all aspects of American societies. These are the people who made the United States the greatest nation in the world, after the Second World War, which has continued through the first decade of the 21^st century.

 

The Greatest Evil

 Chris Hedges

 March 03, 2022

" Preemptive war, whether in Iraq or Ukraine, is a war crime. It does not matter if the war is launched on the basis of lies and fabrications, as was the case in Iraq, or because of the breaking of a series of agreements with Russia, including the promise by Washington not to extend NATO beyond the borders of a unified Germany, not to deploy thousands of NATO troops in Eastern Europe, not to meddle in the internal affairs of nations on the Russia’s border and the refusal to implement the Minsk II peace agreement.

The invasion of Ukraine would, I expect, never have happened if these promises had been kept. Russia has every right to feel threatened, betrayed, and angry. But to understand is not to condone. The invasion of Ukraine, under post-Nuremberg laws, is a criminal war of aggression.

[Ed.: Russia says it intervened in the eight-year civil war in Ukraine to stop the massacre of ethnic Russians in Donbass led in part by openly neo-Nazi units.]

 

Deafened

 Economist Magazine- February 12, 2022

MANY ANIMALS depend upon sound to find food, detect predators and communicate with one another. These species understandably suffer when loud motorways cut through their habitats. Some cope by singing more loudly, some change the timing of their calls to occur when fewer people are driving, others just move to quieter locales.

All of these actions come with significant costs attached and scientists have long documented the ecological damage caused by noise pollution. It has always been assumed, however, that noise is a problem unique to animals. But a new study by Ali Akbar Ghotbi-Ravandi, a botanist at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, has revealed that plants suffer too.

 

The Land Where History Died

 by David Stockman Posted onFebruary 28, 2022

In light of the grotesquely one-sided Ukrainian war news on the MSM, it can be well and truly said that America circa February 2022 has become the land where history died.

From the sophomoric coverage of CNN and NBC, for instance, you would think that Ukraine’s borders have been universally agreed upon by one and all for eons; that the government in Kiev has done absolutely nothing to provoke Russian suspicion and anger; and that Uncle Sam, NATO and the European Union have flitted around the neighborhoods on Russia’s borders merely cheer-leading for democracy and selflessly passing out economic aid and cookies to the long-suffering Ukrainian peoples.

Well, no. Today’s hot war eruption in Ukraine would absolutely not be happening save for the violent coup of February 2014 that overthrew Ukraine’s democratically elected pro-Russian President; and which coup was funded, organized and choreographed by Washington-based neocons, busybodies and arms merchants who otherwise had no reason for even existing in the post-Soviet world.

Moreover, by reviewing the voting patterns of the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election we can see exactly how Washington’s blunderbuss intervention in support of the Maidan putsch put the kibosh on stable governance in Kiev and friendly relations with Ukraine’s historic neighbor and suzerain, Russia. That’s because while the 2010 election reflected the stark divisions of the Ukrainian electorate (see map below) it still produced a government that was reasonably acceptable to most of the electorate, and one which proceeded to work toward new arrangements with both Ukraine’s EU neighbors to the west and Russia to the east.

 

 

George Kennan Warned NATO Expansion Would Lead to This

 by David Stockman Posted onFebruary 24, 2022

Mr. "X" Is Rolling in His Grave

We are now deep into the weeds with respect to Ukraine. So deep, in fact, that the underlying architecture of the situation doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in the hot place of getting even a fleeting mention in the 24/7 war news cycle.

So let’s call a spade a spade. The current fraught situation has nothing at all to do with the rule of international law or the sovereignty of national borders or the spread of democracy; and certainly not even remotely with any kind of threat to the safety and security of the American homeland posed by Russia.

To the contrary, it all goes back to the fall of 1991 when the old Soviet Union slithered off the pages of history, but the Washington-based military industrial complex refused to go quietly into the good night. Instead, it busied itself with policing the far-flung precincts of the planet as if the Cold War had not even ended, and extending Washington’s hegemony to any and every vacuum left behind by the vanished Soviet Union and its former satellites, allies and vassals.

Russia’s Strategic Swing Drives NATOstan Nuts

 By Pepe Escobar

 February 21, 2022

History will register that the birth of the baby twins – Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics – only a few hours before 2/22/22, was simultaneous to the birth of the real, 21st century multipolar world.

As my columns have stressed for a few years now, Vladimir Putin has been carefully nurturing his inner Sun Tzu. And now it’s all in the open: “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”

The thunderbolt was months in the process of being meticulously polished. To paraphrase Lenin, who “created Ukraine” (copyright Putin), we did live many decades in only these past few days. It all started with the detailed demands of security guarantees sent to the Americans, which Moscow knew would be rejected. Then there was the Russia-China joint statement at the start of the Winter Olympics – which codifies not only the strategic partnership but also the key tenets of the multipolar world.

Russia Recognises Donbass Republics' Independence

 By Alexey Nikolsky

 February 21, 2022

Earlier in the day, in an emergency session of the Russian Security Council, the Russian president consulted with ministers, senior security officials and members of the government to present their views on the matter and its potential political, economic and strategic implications. 

 

Today’s Crisis Over Ukraine

Jack F. Matlock ACURA Viewpoint

 February 14, 2022

Today we face an avoidable crisis that was predictable, actually predicted, willfully precipitated, but easily resolved by the application of common sense.

We are being told each day that war may be imminent in Ukraine. Russian troops, we are told, are massing at Ukraine’s borders and could attack at any time. American citizens are being advised to leave Ukraine and dependents of the American Embassy staff are being evacuated. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president has advised against panic and made clear that he does not consider a Russian invasion imminent. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has denied that he has any intention of invading Ukraine. His demand is that the process of adding new members to NATO cease and that in particular, Russia has assurance that Ukraine and Georgia will never be members. President Biden has refused to give such assurance but made clear his willingness to continue discussing questions of strategic stability in Europe. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government has made clear it has no intention of implementing the agreement reached in 2015 for reuniting the Donbas provinces into Ukraine with a large degree of local autonomy—an agreement with Russia, France and Germany which the United States endorsed.

شاه جنگ ایرانیان در چالدران و یونان

کسانی که به مطالعات تاریخی، بخصوص در مورد ایران، علاقمندند، نام ذبیح‌الله منصوری برای آنها نامی آشناست. قلم شیوای منصوری خواندن کتابهای او را شیرین، و سبک ساده نویسی او خواندن آثار او را آسان‌تر می‌کند. ولی آنچه که خواننده پیش از خواندن کتاب او باید در نظر داشته باشد این است که آنچه که می‌خواند رمانی بیش نیست که وقایع تاریخی، درست و یا نادرست، در آن ذکر شده‌اند.ا

 علی‌اکبر قاضی‌زاده در مقاله‌ای در روزنامه شرق به تاریخ ۲۵ تیر ۱۳۸۶ تحت عنوان

  «تکلیف ذبیح‌الله منصوری را روشن کنید»

به ارائه راهکارهایی برای روشن شدن وضعیت آثار منصوری پرداخت. او دربارهٔ آثار منصوری می‌نویسد

همه این کارها به نام ترجمه به خوانندگان عرضه می‌شود، اما اهل تحقیق و کارشناسان ادبیات می‌دانند آن نویسندگان غربی که کتاب‌ها به نام آنان معرفی می‌شود، در مجموع سه حالت دارند

این نویسندگان یا وجود خارجی دارند اما کتابی به چنین نام و مضمونی ننوشته‌اند

یا وجود خارجی دارند اما جزوه‌ای، مقاله‌ای یا یادداشتی چندبرگی نوشته‌اند که با گذر از ذهن خلاق و سازنده منصوری به کتابی مفصل و پربرگ تبدیل شده‌اند

یا اصولاً از ابتدای پیدایش سیاره زمین اصلاً چنین آدم‌هایی زاده نشده‌اند تا چه رسد به اینکه کتابی نوشته باشند که ذبیح‌الله منصوری آن را به فارسی بازگردان

 

$1.5 Trillion in Student Loan Debt Is Sabotaging the Nation's Future

THOM HARTMANN

February 3, 2022

Reagan's policy of starving education and cranking up student debt has made U.S. banks piles of money, but stopped generations of young people from starting businesses, having families, and buying homes.

Ronald Reagan knew that an educated populace was more progressive and more Democratic, and he was determined to stop the explosion of college educated Americans caused by both the 1944 GI Bill and free tuition at the University of California.

Forty years later, student debt has crippled two generations of young Americans: over 44 million people carry the burden, totaling a $1.5 trillion drag on our economy that benefits nobody except the banks earning interest on the debt.

Student debt is a rare or even nonexistent thing in most western democracies

U.S. Says ‘Wants Peace Not War’ as It Arms Ukraine to the Teeth

 By Finian Cunningham

 January 21, 2022

 American Secretary of State Antony Blinken is shuttling across Europe this week vowing that Washington “desperately wants peace not war” with Russia. This touchy-feely sentiment comes amid reports of additional American and British weapons supplies heading to the NATO-backed Kiev regime.

‘The Lowest Point in My Lifetime’: How 14 Independent Voters Feel About America

 Jan. 20, 2022

 By Patrick Healy and Adrian J. Rivera

How do independent voters feel about President Biden and America after his first year in office? Let’s put it this way: His weak approval ratings might go up if he pulled a Trump and just declared that America was moving on from the pandemic and he was going all in against inflation and high gas prices. Never mind about voting rights or avoiding another Jan. 6. It’s the economy, Joe.

So it seemed listening to a new Times Opinion focus group with 14 independent voters, who are far more worried about their finances than about Covid’s impact, as the transcript of the conversation below shows. Asked what they held Mr. Biden responsible for and what they would tell him if they had the chance, the independents emphasized energy prices, the economy and the importance of being a moderate, as well as a desire to avoid Covid mandates and lockdowns. The virus might not be done with America, but several of these independents are done with the virus.

America Is Falling Apart at the Seams

David Brooks- 1/13/2022

In June a statistic floated across my desk that startled me. In 2020, the number of miles Americans drove fell 13 percent because of the pandemic, but the number of traffic deaths rose 7 percent.

I couldn’t figure it out. Why would Americans be driving so much more recklessly during the pandemic? But then in the first half of 2021, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle deaths were up 18.4 percent even over 2020. Contributing factors, according to the agency, included driving under the influence, speeding and failure to wear a seatbelt.

Why are so many Americans driving irresponsibly?

The Class War—Waged and Being Won by the Rich—Is Destroying US Democracy

 12/15/2021- Jeffrey Sachs

The US has become a country of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich and we remain in the throes of a struggle to overcome decades of political corruption and social neglect.

Almost a year after Joe Biden's narrow election victory over Donald Trump, the United States remains on a knife-edge. Many political outcomes are possible. These range from the gradual economic and political reform that Biden is seeking to the subversion of elections and constitutional rule that Trump attempted last January—and that he and the Republican Party are still intent on pursuing.

It's not easy to diagnose exactly what ails America at its core so deeply that it incited the Trump movement. Is it the ceaseless culture wars that divide America by race, religion, and ideology? Is it the increase in inequality of wealth and power to unprecedented levels? Is it America's diminishing global power, with the rise of China and the repeated disasters of US-led wars of choice leading to national agony, frustration, and confusion?

The American polity is cracked, and might collapse. Canada must prepare

 By Thomas Homer-Dixon

January 2, 2022

By 2025, American democracy could collapse, causing extreme domestic political instability, including widespread civil violence. By 2030, if not sooner, the country could be governed by a right-wing dictatorship.

We mustn’t dismiss these possibilities just because they seem ludicrous or too horrible to imagine. In 2014, the suggestion that Donald Trump would become president would also have struck nearly everyone as absurd. But today we live in a world where the absurd regularly becomes real and the horrible commonplace.

Leading American academics are now actively addressing the prospect of a fatal weakening of U.S. democracy.

 

How Will Life on Earth End?

 Discover Magazine: January/ February 2022

Asteroid strikes, supernova blasts and other calamities that could take out humanity

Life is resilient

The first living things on Earth appeared as far back as 4 billion years ago, according to some scientists. Throughout Earth’s history, it’s seen all manner of cataclysms. These disparate doomsdays have killed countless like-forms. And at times, those mass extinctions have even eliminated most species on Earth.

Yet life has always rebounded. New species emerge. The cycle repeats.

So, what would it take to kill off life in full? Here are just a few possible doomsday events that could permanently extinguish all life on Earth- and the last one is likely unavoidable.

Iran launches rocket into space as nuclear talks continue

Iran has launched a satellite carrier rocket bearing three research devices into space, according to state media, as difficult negotiations over its tattered nuclear deal with world powers continue in Vienna.

The reports on Thursday did not say when the launch was conducted, nor what devices the carrier brought with it. It was unclear whether any of the objects entered orbit around the Earth.

Previous launches have drawn rebukes from the United States, which unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions against Iran.

America

 "America" is an American history book by Victor Kiernan first published in 1978. The book analyzes how this country was formed and how it became one of the greatest empires of the twentieth century. An epilogue is added to the 2015 edition by John Trumpbour that updates events between these two dates.