Tag: EU

Even Clownocrats Resist

You know Clown World has gone too far in its slavish obedience to the neoclowns in Washington when even EU bureaucrats are openly criticizing its unelected leadership’s overt hypocrisies with regards to Ukraine and Gaza.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is turning a blind eye to Israel’s “war crimes” in Gaza, hundreds of EU staffers wrote in a letter circulating within the bloc’s institutions, the Irish Times reported on Friday.

The European Commission is giving a “free hand to the acceleration and legitimacy of a war crime in the Gaza Strip,” the letter signed by 842 people states. It was reportedly circulated among diplomats and staffers at the Commission and other EU bodies.

While the missive opens with a condemnation of Hamas’ attack on Israel earlier this month, it follows with an “equally strong” condemnation of what the writers describe as “the disproportionate reaction by the Israeli government against 2.3 million Palestinian civilians trapped in the Gaza Strip,” accusing von der Leyen of a “double standard.”

The letter claims she “completely ignored” Israel’s blockade stopping water and fuel from reaching Gaza, while noting that she described an “identical act” by Russia as “terror.”

The recent observations by the Financial Times were dead-on, except it’s not just the Global South that is being lost by the USA. There are massive demonstrations in support of Palestine all across Europe, from the UK to Spain, and it isn’t just the Muslim migrants taking part either. Only the media and the fully-owned politicians are supporting Israel now, and Israel hasn’t even entered Gaza in force yet. EU staffers are the most genuinely true-believing of all the various clowns around the world, and yet the complete 180 that has been performed regarding their most strongly-held principles is proving too much even for them.

There is absolutely no support for the USA’s rush to war anywhere in Europe, and it won’t surprise me if the situation has a significant effect on the next round of elections. No one wants war in the Middle East, but if it comes, the Europeans will be heavily in favor of Iran and the Palestinians. So much so, in fact, that might even serve to effect a rapprochement with Russia.

One factor of which most Americans are unaware is that the Europeans will not break economic ties with China. They simply can’t afford to do so, and they know that following the USA’s lead on Russia has harmed their economies more than they ever imagined possible. So it appears various forces are gathering for a crisis in US-European relations.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon continues to plunge headlong into another neocon war for which it has no support beyond Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin, and the ADL, and which it is likely to lose in a catastrophic manner.

Following detailed discussions with President Biden on recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the Middle East Region, today I directed a series of additional steps to further strengthen the Department of Defense posture in the region. These steps will bolster regional deterrence efforts, increase force protection for U.S. forces in the region, and assist in the defense of Israel.

First, I redirected the movement of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group to the Central Command area of responsibility. This carrier strike group is in addition to the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which is currently operating in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. It will further increase our force posture and strengthen our capabilities and ability to respond to a range of contingencies.

I have also activated the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery as well as additional Patriot battalions to locations throughout the region to increase force protection for U.S. forces.

Finally, I have placed an additional number of forces on prepare to deploy orders as part of prudent contingency planning, to increase their readiness and ability to quickly respond as required.

I will continue to assess our force posture requirements in the region and consider deploying additional capabilities as necessary.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, 21 October 2023

This is just another reason why being forced out of the military for refusing to get vaxxed was the right move.

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The Red Terror of Free Trade

French wine terrorists are attacking and destroying Spanish wine trucks.

French winemakers quite literally painted the town red today when they intercepted trucks carrying cheap Spanish booze and smashed crate-loads of it all over the road. 

Le Boulou tollbooth, just ten miles from France’s border with Spain, was turned into a battleground this morning when dozens of protesting winemakers halted lorries and tore into their contents. They destroyed several wine shipments, smashing the bottles and pouring the red booze all over the tarmac in a vintage demonstration of the French public’s penchant for demonstrating against perceived injustices.

In videos posted on X, protesters can be seen tumbling over a mountain of crates carrying Freixenet wine. Many of the crates had been upended so their valued contents spilled out across the road. Bottles upon bottles of bubbly were seen rolling around amid a sea of broken glass and wasted booze.

What sort of world are we living in, that outrages such as these are allowed to happen! I blame teetotal immigrants and beer-swilling peasants. Thank Bacchus that they didn’t interrupt the Torres trucks!

Figures from the European Commission say wine consumption for the current year is estimated to have fallen 15 per cent in France, 7 per cent in Italy, 10 per cent in Spain, and a staggering 34 per cent in Portugal. However, production in the EU has risen by 4 per cent.

There is the real problem. Now do your patriotic duty, Frenchmen! Stand by your vines, Spaniards! Have a second glass at lunch, all you Portuguese! European civilization depends upon you!

I will do my part.

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The Dayan Principle

It’s very informative that the German and US militaries appear almost eager to fight paramilitaries in Gaza, while for the last 18 months they have wanted absolutely no part in fighting the Russian Army.

The German government has decided to deploy some of the nation’s top Special Forces units to Cyprus as it prepares for potential crisis situations in Israel, Gaza, and the Middle East, the tabloid Bild reported on Wednesday, citing security sources.

The German Army’s Special Forces Command (KSK) has been deployed to the island nation in the Eastern Mediterranean, Bild said, adding that the Navy Special Forces (KSM) unit, also known as combat swimmers, was deployed to the area as well. The federal police Special Forces unit specializing in rescuing hostages (GSG 9) was sent there as well, the tabloid reported.

According to Bild, Berlin is preparing for “all scenarios” amid a continued escalation between Israel and the Gaza-based Palestinian Hamas militant group.

As the great Israeli general Moshe Dayan once said, the secret to the IDF’s stunning military success revolved around one very important concept: fighting Arabs. So it will be interesting to see if the German troop commitment survives in the event that Hezbollah and Iran elect to get involved.

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Germany Declares War on Russia

I don’t think this declaration by Germany’s Foreign Minister is going to age well, especially how it calls back to the infamous Lebensraum policy of the Third Reich.

Ukraine’s future “lies in” the European Union, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday, adding that the bloc would soon incorporate regions that had joined Russia in 2022 but are still claimed by Kiev.

“[The EU] will soon stretch from Lisbon to Lugansk,” Baerbock told journalists on the sidelines of the EU foreign ministers’ meeting in the Ukrainian capital.

Lugansk is the capital of the Lugansk People’s Republic – one of the two former eastern Ukrainian regions that declared independence from Kiev in 2014 in the wake of the Western-backed Maidan coup in Kiev. Russia recognized its independence in February 2022, just days before the start of its military campaign in Ukraine. In autumn 2022, the Lugansk People’s Republic joined Russia, together with three other former Ukrainian territories following a series of referendums.

I don’t think this will surprise the Russians, who have known they were going to have to defeat NATO directly ever since the decapitation attack on Kiev failed at the beginning of the special military operation. And while I’m confident the Russians aren’t seeking a European empire, I think it is far more likely that Imperial Russia will stretch from Primorsky Krai to Porto than the EU will reach Lugansk. I very much doubt either Ukraine or the EU will survive WWIII as political entities.

This does not bode well for Europeans who had hoped for saner governments in the aftermath of the inevitable failure of the Ukro-NATO offensive.

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Green is Innumeracy

There is absolutely no way for any country, least of all one that is industrially developed, to come anywhere close to meeting the various ecological goals set for them by their various Green parties.

Germany’s flagship airline Lufthansa has warned that it would need to consume half of the country’s entire electricity output if it were to shift to green fuels such as e-kerosene, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr reportedly stated that synthetic fuels manufactured using renewable energy represented the best approach to decarbonize aviation. However, it is unlikely that there is sufficient green electricity in Germany to generate them, the executive warned.

“We would need around half of Germany’s electricity to create enough of the fuels,” Spohr was quoted as saying at an aviation conference in Hamburg. “I don’t think Mr. Habeck is going to give me that,” he added, referring to Economy and Energy Minister Robert Habeck.

Normally, I’d say one doesn’t have to be innumerate to be Green, but it helps. Except the fact is that one literally has to be totally incapable of understanding math, numbers, and basic addition to genuinely support Green Party policies.

And if you want to get a lot of cars off the roads, it’s very simple and easily accomplished in less than one year. Just ban auto loans. 89 percent of new cars and 55 percent of used cars are purchased with debt.

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France Retreats From Africa

The French President has announced that it will remove its troops and its diplomats from Niger as per the request of the new Nigerien government:

France will pull its military and diplomats from Niger after a successful coup by anti-French forces, President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday. The move will see around 1,500 soldiers leave by the end of the year.

“France has decided to withdraw its ambassador. In the next hours our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France,” Macron told France 2 television on Sunday. “And we will put an end to our military cooperation with the Niger authorities,” he continued, adding that French troops would return home in “the months to come.”

Niger’s pro-French president, Mohamed Bazoum, was ousted in a military coup in July. Capitalizing on widespread public dissatisfaction with France’s decade-long anti-insurgent operation in the region, the coup leaders immediately suspended a military cooperation agreement with the French government and demanded that French troops leave the country.

This is a small, but serious defeat for The Empire That Never Ended. Clown World is imperial and it’s European satrapies are economically dependent upon draining the resources from Africa without paying full price for them. The growing BRICSIA alliance is quickly winning over the allegiance of the African nations in part because they are offering genuine trade rather than corruption and parasitical neo-colonialism, although it will be interesting to see if China can resist the temptation to stake a similar claim to Africa’s rich natural resources when it has the power to do so.

Russia, of course, has no need for them.

In either case, this will probably not be the last African country to demand European or US troops to leave. And it probably won’t be too long before Asian countries start following suit, although it is unlikely that the USA will politely accede to any such demands from Japan or Korea.

And, of course, France hasn’t actually withdrawn them yet…

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Holding the Strong Hand

European leaders shouldn’t have been surprised that Putin wasn’t concerned about Western sanctions, because it’s not like he didn’t know they were coming in response to his actions. The problem with always relying upon the same tactics is that the other side anticipates and prepares for them:

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was surprised by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s complete lack of concern about Western sanctions shortly after the outbreak of conflict with Ukraine, Bild has reported.

In an article on Monday, the German tabloid cited a conversation between Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, which was revealed by journalist Stephan Lamby in his new book ‘Emergency: Governing in Times of War’.

The exchange, in which the two leaders discussed their phone calls with Putin, is said to have taken place on March 4, 2022 – just over a week after Moscow sent its forces into Ukraine.

It’s “not getting any better,” Scholz reportedly told Macron during that conversation. “Something bothers me more than the talks: [Putin] doesn’t complain about the sanctions at all. I don’t know if he did that in conversation with you, but he didn’t even mention the sanctions,” he remarked.

The French leader replied that Putin hadn’t addressed the issue of Western restrictions during phone calls with him either. After listening to Scholz, Macron replied: “Thank you, that was very similar to the conversation I had with [Putin] yesterday. I think he is now quite determined to go to the end.”

Who would have thought that enforced autarky could benefit an economy? Perhaps Putin has some economists who have explained that free trade is deleterious, rather than beneficial, to most national economies in most historical situations. This should be obvious, considering that the financial vampires literally depend upon capital movements in order to parasitize the real economies and divert coporate profits into their own coffers, but 200 years of unrestrained economic propaganda has been so effective that national leaders are actually basing their geopolitical strategy on inverted and incorrect assumptions.

I do find it mildly amusing that neither Scholz nor Macron grasped the obvious consequence of Putin’s lack of interest in discussing the sanctions that were supposed to be their devastating economic weapon. While Scholz appears to have had an inkling of why the Russian President was so unconcerned, apparently it wasn’t strong enough to look seriously into the matter or to revisit his assumptions.

We know the leaders of the Western puppet governments are retarded and totally incapable of successfully anticipating events or the obvious consequences of their actions. Putin knows they’re retarded. Xi, who is the smartest of all the world leaders according to Lew Kwan Yew, obviously knows they’re retarded.

But no one ever suspected they were this retarded.

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The Price of Partiality

Switzerland is beginning to learn that no one will utilize a middleman who takes sides, as the Alpine country runs the risk of missing out on a truly historic opportunity:

The latest 32% monthly fall in commodities trading followed a 27.5% decline in April, 22% in March and double-digit negative figures going back to the start of the year. The latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office show the volume of Swiss commodities trading in freefall as the Ukraine war rages on, destabilising the shipment of grains around the world and redirecting the flow of Russian oil.

Switzerland has established itself a one of the most important global hubs for trading oil, metals and foodstuffs. Swiss-based companies handle 40% of all oil trades and have taken a 60% slice of the metals trading business, 65% in cotton, 55% in coffee and 35% in cocoa, according to the industry association Suissenégoce. The sector employs 35,000 people and contributes some 4% to the Swiss economy.

The real loss to the Swiss economy will be the opportunity cost going forward. With the inevitable bifurcation of the global economy into two unequal halves, the larger BRICS economy and the smaller WEF/SWIFT economy, the neutral Swiss were in the perfect position to serve as the central intersection where the two international economies could meet to trade. What will eventually be seen as a single-digit hit to the economy is actually a much larger loss to what the economy could have, and should have, become.

But the unbelievable myopia of the current set of Swiss politicians combined with external pressure from a Clown World caused them to throw away all of Switzerland’s natural and historic advantages in order to take the losing side in a war that neither Ukraine nor NATO could ever even hoped to have won militarily. Now that Clown World’s desperate bid to win the war with banks in lieu of tanks has failed, Switzerland finds itself categorized as an “unfriendly” state by both Russia and China and is increasingly likely to find itself excluded from consideration as a future central trading hub by all of the countries that are aligning themselves with BRICS.

Even FIFA and the Olympics could find themselves in jeopardy soon if all of the BRICS nations pull out of the global sports associations in solidarity with the banned Russian athletes and teams. Given that the Saudi Sports Agency has already proven that it can leverage its money to swiftly take over an entire sport with its LIV Golf maneuver, both the opportunities to a Sino-Russian-Saudi alliance and the vulnerabilities of the existing organizations are obvious to even a casual and indifferent observer.

The only hope the Swiss have of taking a central place in the future bipolar world economy is a rapid and sincere commitment to an official neutrality that is firmly established in the national constitution. The choice should be obvious given the near failure of UBS, the failure of Credit Suisse, the PGA Tour partnership, the Nigerois war for economic independence from France, the economic contraction of Germany, the coming surrender of NATO and Ukraine, the pivot of the US military toward China, and the ongoing collapse of the European Union.

The existing Atlanticist economic order is simply not going to survive in its current form, so seeking to curry its favor is not only unproductive, but self-destructive. And no redefinitions of what “neutrality” actually is will fool anyone, especially not those nations whose corporations and citizens are subject to material sanctions. Only those whose positions are inherently untenable need to redefine words in order to justify their positions.

The problem is that a generation of politicians who have been accustomed to regard the USA and the EU as the Sun and Moon for three decades are probably incapable of grasping the geostrategic realities of a world in which those two entities combined amount to nothing more than the junior side of the Great Bifurcation.

It is a real pity that the Swiss journalists who daily peruse this blog looking for ammunition to discredit and deplatform me will not quote me on this particular subject, because it is vastly more significant to them, and to those they seek to influence, than anything I have said that violates their precious Narrative.

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The Military Wing of Clown World

The New York Times admits that NATO exists to control the European nations, not defend them:

Many observers expected NATO to close shop after the collapse of its Cold War rival. But in the decade after 1989, the organization truly came into its own. NATO acted as a ratings agency for the European Union in Eastern Europe, declaring countries secure for development and investment. The organization pushed would-be partners to adhere to a liberal, pro-market creed, according to which — as President Bill Clinton’s national security adviser put it — “the pursuit of democratic institutions, the expansion of free markets” and “the promotion of collective security” marched in lock step. European military professionals and reform-minded elites formed a willing constituency, their campaigns boosted by NATO’s information apparatus.

When European populations proved too stubborn, or undesirably swayed by socialist or nationalist sentiments, Atlantic integration proceeded all the same. The Czech Republic was a telling case. Faced with a likely “no” vote in a referendum on joining the alliance in 1997, the secretary general and top NATO officials saw to it that the government in Prague simply dispense with the exercise; the country joined two years later. The new century brought more of the same, with an appropriate shift in emphasis. Coinciding with the global war on terrorism, the “big bang” expansion of 2004 — in which seven countries acceded — saw counterterrorism supersede democracy and human rights in alliance rhetoric. Stress on the need for liberalization and public sector reforms remained a constant.

In the realm of defense, the alliance was not as advertised. For decades, the United States has been the chief provider of weapons, logistics, air bases and battle plans. The war in Ukraine, for all the talk of Europe stepping up, has left that asymmetry essentially untouched. Tellingly, the scale of U.S. military aid — $47 billion over the first year of the conflict — is more than double that offered by European Union countries combined. European spending pledges may also turn out to be less impressive than they appear. More than a year after the German government publicized the creation of a special $110 billion fund for its armed forces, the bulk of the credits remain unused. In the meantime, German military commanders have said that they lack sufficient munitions for more than two days of high-intensity combat.

Whatever the levels of expenditure, it is remarkable how little military capability Europeans get for the outlays involved. Lack of coordination, as much as penny-pinching, hamstrings Europe’s ability to ensure its own security. By forbidding duplication of existing capabilities and prodding allies to accept niche roles, NATO has stymied the emergence of any semiautonomous European force capable of independent action. As for defense procurement, common standards for interoperability, coupled with the sheer size of the U.S. military-industrial sector and bureaucratic impediments in Brussels, favor American firms at the expense of their European competitors. The alliance, paradoxically, appears to have weakened allies’ ability to defend themselves.

Yet the paradox is only superficial. In fact, NATO is working exactly as it was designed by postwar U.S. planners, drawing Europe into a dependency on American power that reduces its room for maneuver. Far from a costly charity program, NATO secures American influence in Europe on the cheap.

In related news, Germany has announced that it is sending its last 20,000 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine, along with 25 more Leopard tanks, which along with the 29 Leopards previously provided, represent 24 percent of its total armor. By the current rate of usage in Ukraine, the ammunition will last just under one week.

This is an astonishingly risky decision by the German government, since once Russia wins the war of attrition and completely depletes all NATO stocks, it may find that it has the option of rolling all the way to the English channel without any meaningful opposition even if it previously had no intention of doing so.

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Surrender Monkeys Urge Surrender

It reads like a vicious American parody, but this is an actual editorial published by Le Monde in response to the recent invader riots that have literally set France on fire.

Urban riots: the need for appeasement
EDITORIAL
Le Monde

While it is necessary to question the roots of the violence in France following the death of young Nahel M., the seriousness of the situation requires us all to call for calm. This is first and foremost in the interests of the inhabitants of neighborhoods considered difficult, with whom we must show solidarity.

Yes, because appeasement is famous for having worked out so well for the appeasers. At this point, no Frenchman or Frenchwoman can possibly continue to imagine that the French elite, or the liberal democracy which purports to uphold, is even remotely conducive to the long-term survival of the French nation.

Where is La Résistance when it’s even more desperately needed than it was before? And why does anyone bow before an elite so aptly derided as “cheese-eating surrender monkeys”.

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