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Will U.S. ‘Interests’ Become Sacrificed on Altar of New Indo-Pacific Strategy? — Strategic Culture

Posted by M. C. on February 6, 2023

Since the architects of this agenda are not known for their commitment to reality, the objectives also include a fair amount of tools that aren’t available but are imagined to be so.

Chief among the list of imaginary tools to subdue China, we find the incredible economic power of the mighty U.S. dollar whose business everyone in the world is believed to desperately desire.

https://strategic-culture.org/news/2023/02/04/will-us-interests-become-sacrificed-on-altar-of-new-indo-pacific-strategy/

Matthew Ehret

As the trans-Atlantic world is pulled into the vortex of a McCarthyite nightmare with a renewed wave of anti-Russian and now anti-China hysterics, a wave of new “Asia Pacific” doctrines have emerged across captured states… I mean “member” states throughout NATO.

Starting with the February 2022 American ‘Indo-Pacific Strategy’, similar anti-China programs have popped up left and right with one principled target in mind: eliminate the threat of China through every tool available.

By early June 2022, the UK announced its own branding of the Asia Pivot remixed into the oddly named ‘Indo-Pacific Tilt’ which focuses less on the liberal eco-friendly language of the EU and devotes itself entirely to vastly increasing its military presence in China’s backyard.

After NATO’s June 2022 Madrid Summit officially designated China as ‘a systemic rival’, Canada’s foreign ministry announced its own Indo-Pacific Strategy in November 2022 followed by an absurd 26 page program published in January 10, 2023 outlining the details of Canada’s new role in the Pacific (which will be the subject of a subsequent report).

On January 25, 2023 NATO’s ironically named ‘Science for Peace and Security Program’ launched a new ‘cooperative initiative on the Indo-Pacific, followed by a January 30, 2023 Atlantic Council Indo-Pacific Security Initiative focused on dealing with “China’s growing threat to the international order”. The same day the Atlantic Council unveiled this new doctrine, an American intelligence spook named Markus Garlauskas was named the program’s new director.

While efforts have been made to avoid using an explicitly militaristic language within the majority of the seemingly unconnected reports outlined above, the fact is that what is emerging is a mutation of Obama’s toxic ‘Asia Pivot’. Unlike the small kinetic wars against non-nuclear states like Iraq or Libya, this new war plan against China is a diverse hodgepodge of every single tool of asymmetrical war launched all at once and targeting not only China, but more importantly China’s weaker neighbors. Besides the obvious conventional military and color revolutionary techniques which I’ve written about extensively in other locations, this new era of Indo-Pacific Strategies rely upon:

1- Seducing Asian neighbors into trade deals, economic partnerships, and military partnerships with the Trans Atlantic community which pull them out of China’s orbit

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A Genuine Check and Balance: Privatize Law and Order | The Libertarian Institute

Posted by M. C. on February 6, 2023

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/a-genuine-check-and-balance-privatize-law-and-order/

by Michael Huemer

Here, I explain the anarcho-capitalist solution to the basic social problem (from fakenous): Recap from two previous posts: 

– The basic problem of human social life: People are selfish. How do we stop them causing enormous amounts of harm to others, to benefit themselves? 

– A traditional solution: Have a government to police the people. 

– The basic problem of government: Government officials are selfish. How do we stop them from causing enormous amounts of harm to others, to benefit themselves? 

Traditional solutions to the problem of government are pretty lame. They really aren’t thought through at all well, and they don’t work very well empirically. 

Here, I explain how the libertarian solution is better. I’m only going to talk about police and courts here, though; I’m not going to discuss national defense or anything else. 

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  1. The Private Solution 

– 

The anarcho-capitalist solution to the basic social problem is similar to the government solution, except that there are multiple, competing agencies for enforcing rights, instead of just one. In other words, anarcho-capitalists want to privatize the essential functions of governments (i.e., the functions that we actually need; other functions can be eliminated). 

So your neighborhood could have an homeowner’s association that would hire a private security company instead of government police. Many competing security companies would operate in the same area (like security guard companies in the status quo; today, there are more private security guards in America than there are government police). In case of a dispute (including disputes about whether someone committed a crime), you would go to a private arbitration company instead of government courts. Many competing arbitrators would operate in the same area. 

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  1. Two Differences 

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You might wonder whether this arrangement counts as an instance of the “government” solution — if your HOA is hiring security guards and enforcing rules, maybe it is just a small government?

That is a semantic question that doesn’t matter. But here is a substantive question that matters: Is the anarcho-capitalist solution subject to the same problems as government? Why don’t we just have the problem that, since the people running security companies and arbitration companies are selfish, they will do things that benefit themselves and harm the rest of society? 

In reply, there are two important differences that explain why an-cap is better than traditional government: 

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2.1. Voluntariness vs. Coercion 

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In the anarcho-capitalist society, individuals (or private organizations) voluntarily choose to hire a security company; in our society, everyone is forced to “hire” the government, whether they want to or not. 

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America First: A Tribute to Pat Buchanan – Revolver News

Posted by M. C. on February 6, 2023

Not perfect but who is? Hey, I voted for him!

https://www.revolver.news/2023/01/america-first-a-tribute-to-pat-buchanan/

There may be no more iconic moment in Donald Trump’s entire presidential campaign than his February 2016 debate showdown with Jeb Bush. The debate, held in Greenville, South Carolina just days before a crucial primary, was rigged against Trump from the start. While polls showed Trump with a big lead, the actual crowd in Greenville was full of movement conservative die-hards nostalgic for George W. Bush. Jeb Bush thought he could use the memory of his brother as a secret weapon to turn the tide, win the state, and save his flailing campaign. It did not go as planned:

For eight years, Republicans had danced awkwardly around the Iraq War, so obviously a national calamity, out of dogmatic loyalty to their last president and to the idea of interventionism itself.

But Donald Trump broke the taboo. He called Iraq what it was, an idiotic near-criminal disaster, and didn’t back down even as a crowd of the people he was trying to win over booed and heckled.

Seven years on, the battle has been almost won. In 2020, Republicans celebrated Donald Trump as the first president in forty years not to start a war on his watch. They praised him for negotiating an end to Afghanistan, and avoiding new quagmires in Syria or Iran. On Ukraine, it is Republicans rather than Democrats who question the wisdom of spending hundreds of billions of dollars with no strategic endgame on a war that never needed to happen and serves no U.S. interests.

By making the Republican Party turn against interventionism and forever wars, Donald Trump changed the country for the better. And when he did so, he was channeling one very specific man: Pat Buchanan.

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Germany Considers Diverting Anti-Coal ‘Green’ Subsidies To Weapons Production | ZeroHedge

Posted by M. C. on February 6, 2023

What about keeping their citizens from freezing this winter? Uncle Sam wants you…to die for US in Ukraine.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/germany-considers-diverting-anti-coal-green-subsidies-weapons-production

Tyler Durden's Photo

BY TYLER DURDEN

Germany is currently mulling reducing its focus on the long hyped ‘green’ initiatives as it scrambles to ramp up lagging defense manufacturing after recently approving a 100 billion euro military revamp in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Unnamed officials have told Bloomberg that this could involve “re-routing existing subsidies for eliminating coal-fired power plants to help defense manufacturers build new production facilities” – which also comes soon on the heels of Berlin approving transfer of its Leopard main battle tanks to Ukrainian forces, which constituted a stark policy reversal. 

A coal-fired power station in Garzweiler. AFP/Getty Images

“The discussions between Germany’s federal government and regional states are aimed at providing the country’s armed forces with more weapons and ammunition and creating jobs in regions that are affected by the shift away from coal, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the talks are confidential,” the report detailed.

One particular large German defense contractor named in the report is Rheinmetall AG, which is planning a new factory to manufacture ammunition components in the state of Saxony, which remains a major coal-producing powerhouse for the country.

Conservative media outlet Breitbart pointed out we could be witnessing a great reset fail in progress- ironically enough, given the very cash intended to kill the coal industry will now go towards bolstering arms manufacturing. 

The Bundeswehr, with about 250,000+ troops, has long been described as woefully undersupplied, especially in the scenario of ever having to fend off a hostile power, or in a WW3 situation in Europe.

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Oil To Face “Serious” Supply Problem In 2024 As Production Capacity Runs Out, Goldman Warns | ZeroHedge

Posted by M. C. on February 6, 2023

Yah but, sacrificing recent oil independence for the sake of windmills and solar panels on windless, overcast days is worth it. Ask the Germans.

Begging missions to SA only to be publicly put down…So much for building a global empire.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/oil-face-serious-supply-problem-2024-production-capacity-runs-out-goldman-warns

Tyler Durden's Photo

BY TYLER DURDEN

Heading into 2023, Goldman was bearish on most asset classes, except commodities where the bank forecast a 43% gain as “supply shortages bite.” Since then the commodity picture has ebbed and flowed, and after commodities experienced a modest bounce following China’s unexpected reopening, they have resumed sinking with oil trading just above the Biden admin’s (supposed) SPR refill floor of $72, despite a near consensus that Chinese oil demand will hit record highs in 2023.

So has the recent setback dented Goldman’s optimism? Not at all: in fact, according to Goldman chief commodity strategist, not only will oil rise back above $100 a barrel this year, it will rise much more in 2024 when it will face a serious supply problem as spare production capacity runs out.

Speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, Goldman chief commodity strategist Jeff Currie said that with sanctions likely to cause Russian oil exports to drop and Chinese demand expected to recover as the country ends its Covid Zero policy, prices will rise above $100 from their current level of around $80. Meanwhile, doubling down on his key long-term thesis, Currie said that a lack of spending in the industry on production needed to meet demand will also be a driver of higher prices, and this lack of capacity may become a big issue by 2024.

“The commodity super cycle is a sequence of price spikes with each high higher and each low higher,” said Currie, who predicted that by May, oil markets should flip to a deficit of supply compared to demand. That could use up much of the unused capacity global producers have, which will send prices higher.

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Just Beneath

Posted by M. C. on February 5, 2023

Caitlin Johnstone

https://open.substack.com/pub/caitlinjohnstone/p/just-beneath?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android

Don’t let the fraudulence of this civilization eclipse the supernova of authenticity hidden just beneath that thin membrane.

Don’t let the vapid artificiality of mainstream culture cause you to miss the weird magic of life as it actually is.

Don’t let the barrage of advertisements screaming “THIS IS NEVER ENOUGH” distract from the symphony of joy in your cells at simply being alive.

Don’t let the nonstop corporate messaging that you are ugly conceal from you your radiant beauty.

Don’t let the Valentine’s Day products from Hallmark steal the spotlight from our wide open hearts and our roaring passion.

Don’t let the authoritative dronings of the imperial pundits mask the fact that they are babies made of mysteries and stardust.

Don’t let the feigned confidence of the people around you trick you into thinking that any of us really knows anything.

Don’t let all the buildings and billboards make you forget that no matter where you go you are always in the thick of nature.

Don’t let the deluge of lies and propaganda cause you to lose sight of the fact that they are trying to pour concrete over a bottomless abyss of truth.

Don’t let the footsteps marching to the beat of the imperial drum drown out the ancient song at the heart of consciousness.

Don’t let this civilization’s insistence that you are finite delude you into missing your own boundlessness.

Where it seems like there is an absence of depth, there are depths that couldn’t be explored in a thousand lifetimes.

Where it appears that there is an absence of truth, truth hides just behind the eyes which perceive this.

There are galaxies hidden in supermarket aisles. There are universes hidden in parking lots.

Just beneath the superficial phoniness, there’s a reality that is older than the stars.

Just beneath the capitalist tedium, there’s an endless fountain of amazement.

Just beneath the collective psychosis, there’s an oddly familiar sanity.

Just beneath the indoctrinated familiarity, a real encounter is waiting to happen.

Just beneath the hopelessness of our current plight, a great power is cracking a smile.

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Watch “Talking About Stoicism 212 Life Long Learning” on YouTube

Posted by M. C. on February 5, 2023

https://youtu.be/VTJIpYiD2oU

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They’re Not Worried About “Russian Influence”, They’re Worried About Dissent

Posted by M. C. on February 5, 2023

Caitlin Johnstone

Our rulers aren’t actually worried about “Russian influence”, they’re worried about dissent. They’re worried the public won’t consent to the “great power competition” they plan to subject us to for the foreseeable future unless they can exert massive influence over our minds, because they know that otherwise we will recognize that our interests are directly harmed by the economic warfare, exploding military spending and nuclear brinkmanship which necessarily accompanies that campaign to reign in Russia and stop the rise of China.

https://open.substack.com/pub/caitlinjohnstone/p/theyre-not-worried-about-russian?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android

Being labeled a Russian propagandist all day every day for criticizing US foreign policy is really weird, but one advantage it comes with is a useful perspective on what people have really been talking about all these years when they warn of the dangers of “Russian propaganda”.

I know I’m not a Russian propagandist. I’m not paid by Russia, I have no connections to Russia, and until I started this political commentary gig in 2016 I thought very little about Russia. My opinions about the western empire sometimes turn up on Russian media because I let anyone use my work who wants to, but that was always something they did on their own without my submitting it to them and without any payment or solicitation of any kind. I’m literally just some random westerner sharing political opinions on the internet; those opinions just happen to disagree with the US empire and its stories about itself and its behavior.

Yet for years I’ve watched people pointing at me as an example of what “Russian propaganda” looks like. This has helped inform my understanding of all the panic about “Russian influence” that’s been circulating these last six years, and given me some insight into how seriously it should be taken.

Matt Taibbi @mtaibbi

Instead of tracking how “Russia” influenced American attitudes, Hamilton 68 simply collected a handful of mostly real, mostly American accounts, and described their organic conversations as Russian scheming: racket.newsMove Over, Jayson Blair: Meet Hamilton 68, the New King of Media FraudThe Twitter Files reveal that one of the most common news sources of the Trump era was a scam, making ordinary American political conversations look like Russian spywork7:44 PM ∙ Jan 27, 202325,677Likes6,389Retweets

That’s one reason why I wasn’t surprised by Matt Taibbi’s reporting on the Twitter Files revelations about Hamilton 68, an information op run by DC swamp monsters and backed by imperialist think tanks which generated hundreds if not thousands of completely bogus mainstream news reports about online Russian influence over the years.

Hamilton 68 purported to track Russian attempts to influence western thought on social media, but Twitter eventually figured out that the “Russians” the operation has been tracking were actually mostly real, mostly American accounts who just happened to say things that didn’t perfectly align with the official Beltway consensus. These accounts were often right-leaning, but also included people like Consortium News editor Joe Lauria, who’s about as far from a rightist as you can get.

They played a massive role in fanning the flames of public hysteria about online Russian influence, but while they did this by pretending to track the behavior of Russian influence ops, in reality they were tracking dissent.

One of the craziest things happening in the world today is the way westerners are being brainwashed by western propaganda into panicking about Russian propaganda, something that has no meaningful existence in the west. Before RT was shut down it was drawing a whopping 0.04 percent of the UK’s total TV audience. The much-touted Russian election interference campaign on Facebook was mostly unrelated to the election and affected “approximately 1 out of 23,000 pieces of content” according o Facebook. Research by New York University into Russian trolling behavior on Twitter in the lead-up to the 2016 election has found “no evidence of a meaningful relationship between exposure to the Russian foreign influence campaign and changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior.” 

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Pfizer exec tells Project Veritas COVID jabs have ‘concerning’ impact on menstrual cycles – LifeSite

Posted by M. C. on February 4, 2023

“There’s a whole list of things we’re developing it for,” Walker explained. “Not just for viruses, we’re applying it for like, oncology … gene editing … at least internally our focus will be to move beyond COVID.”

Isn’t it already doing gene editing?

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-pfizer-exec-tells-project-veritas-covid-jabs-have-concerning-impact-on-menstrual-cycles/?utm_source=popular

‘I hope we don’t find out that somehow this mRNA lingers in the body and like – because it has to be affecting something hormonal to impact menstrual cycles.’

Featured Image

(LifeSiteNews) — In another shocking video by Project Veritas, a top-ranking Pfizer employee can be seen on camera admitting that the company’s experimental COVID-19 vaccines have a “concerning” impact on women’s reproductive health.

The video, released by the investigative organization Thursday evening, once again shows the man identified as Jordon Trishton Walker, Pfizer’s director of research and development for strategic operations and mRNA scientific planning, admitting what LifeSiteNews and others outlets have been reporting since 2021, namely that when it comes to the COVID-19 injections, “There is something irregular about the menstrual cycles.”

“There is something irregular about the menstrual cycles. So, people will have to investigate that down the line,” Walker unknowingly told the undercover journalist in a clandestinely recorded video.

“The [COVID] vaccine shouldn’t be interfering with that [menstrual cycles]. So, we don’t really know,” the executive added.

Casually hypothesizing about what could be causing this “concerning” side effect – a side effect that was constantly denied by the mainstream medical establishment, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – Walker told the undercover journalist, “I hope we don’t find out that somehow this mRNA lingers in the body and like – because it has to be affecting something hormonal to impact menstrual cycles.”

“I hope we don’t discover something really bad down the line,” continued Walker, adding, “If something were to happen downstream and it was, like, really bad? I mean, the scale of that scandal would be enormous.”

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Of Course The IRS Needs To Go — But The Fed Must Go With It

Posted by M. C. on February 4, 2023

https://rumble.com/v2881sa-of-course-the-irs-needs-to-go-but-the-fed-must-go-with-it.html

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