Reader’s Links for October 2, 2022

Here is a link to the VladTepesBlog social media Mastodon Pod. Please feel free to check it out and sign up for an account if you are sufficiently annoyed with Twitter and Facebook to try something new.

Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

83 Replies to “Reader’s Links for October 2, 2022”

    • The baby must have her very busy. I had to stop part way in as she gets so much wrong in this one.

      Trump was not a representation of an over the top consumerism, it was a reaction to 8 years of Obama socialism. No one trusted either the Clinton Dynasty of the Democrats, or the Bush dynasty of the Republicans. Trump actually was rejected by the GOP “even if he won the leadership” and he threatened to run as an indie, and then they took him back and destroyed him from within.

      Trudeau wasn’t singing an “American” song. He was singing a song from a British rock band with a gay lead singer called Queen. What made the thing insulting was the band was called Queen and he was there for the Queen’s flipping funeral.

      Whatsherface may need some time off.

    • Feminist Justine probably thinks he is Freddie Mercury. Freddie Mercury was an exceptionally talented guy, who was an amazing entertainer.

      What qualifications does Feminist, Justine Trudeau have, NONE, and how did he get elected? HIS NAME, Canadian media, Georgie Soros, Klaus Schwab, voting machines, feminists, Islamists, and peoplekind.

      • What first got him elected: his name and the MSM’s constant criticism of Harper as a secretive government. It was the light vs the darkness concept.

        I no longer believe that our current election system is a democracy. Trudeau has 24% of the popular vote but he gets to make all the important decisions.

        • Justin Trudeau announced his political ambitions at Trudeau Sr.’s funeral.

          Bad taste? Tone-deafness? Yes.

          Coincidence? No!

          Trudeau Sr. made it clear that he would not tolerate Justin Trudeau entering politics. As per a high ranking official who knew Trudeau Sr. and was his confidant and adviser…

          • Perhaps he witnessed Margaret dropping him on his head a few times or maybe he realized at an early age his son was not capable of much.

          • I didn’t know that. It’s quite possible Justin disliked his father, and yes, that much! Justin was a mommy’s boy.

  1. Support the Global Walkout September 4, 2022

    STEP 1. USE CASH
    1. To save business money on transaction fees.
    2. Give business more control over their profits
    3. To support my global economy and community
    4. Keep my purchases and location anonymous
    5. KEEP CASH ALIVE

      • I always use cash.

        A man went to his bank to get out $50,000 and was told he had to make an appointment for another day to get out that amount AND there would be an $860 fee for taking out such a large amount. Ha ha he got his money 3 hours later and did not pay any fee, after all it was HIS OWN MONEY.

  2. 10 02 2022 – bloomberg – US Eyes Regular Aid Payments to Ukraine, Pushes EU to Do More

    US is willing to provide $1.5 billion a month throughout war

    EU still struggling to deliver on previous commitments

    The US is willing to support Ukraine’s finances with $1.5 billion a month in aid throughout the war against Russia and is pushing its European allies to commit to similar amounts, according to people familiar with the matter.

    The Biden administration, which signed off last week on $4.5 billion in grants to cover the rest of the year, has held conversations with European Union officials -– including in recent days — and has pressed Europe to do more, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.

    With the EU haggling internally over the delivery of previous pledges, allies have been discussing a more regular mechanism to help keep Ukraine’s economy afloat as the war drags on, one of the people said. Officials have been warned that there would be growing demands in Congress, whose approval is required for longer-term support, for more burden sharing among allies, another person said.

    The International Monetary Fund has previously said Ukraine needs about $5 billion every month to cover essential services and keep its economy going. The country received about $2 billion in aid last month, down from $4.7 billion in August, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said.

    Bloomberg reported in July that a number of allies had privately criticized the bloc for not delivering on its commitments of nearly 9 billion euros ($8.8 billion) and called on it at the time to do so urgently.

    EU Summit

    EU leaders are expected to discuss Kyiv’s financial requirements, which the draft budget for 2023 has placed at $38 billion, at a summit in the Czech Republic this week.

    Diplomats preparing the leaders’ meeting were told last week that expected funding levels from European nations would be on a similar scale to the monthly $1.5 billion the US was willing to provide, one of the people said. The funding was critical to covering essentials such as basic public expenditure, schools, hospitals and Ukraine’s electrical network, the person said.

    A number of senior EU officials have been extremely frustrated by the slow pace of the bloc’s decision-making over financial support for Kyiv, as well as lack of urgency among some national governments toward the debate, especially as winter approaches.

    Amid disagreement among member nations over the details of the 9 billion euro-package, the bloc paid out 1 billion euros last summer, while another 5 billion euros have been approved but not yet delivered to Kyiv. The outstanding 3 billion euros remain stuck over issues including whether the aid should be in the form of grants or loans, and how to structure guarantees.

    The EU has also supported Ukraine with 1.2 billion euros in loans in the first half of the year, as well as billions more to pay for weapons deliveries and longer-term reforms. The block is also aiming to shepherd conversations around Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction but officials admonish that Kyiv’s immediate needs are far more pressing, two of the people said.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-02/us-eyes-regular-aid-payments-to-ukraine-pushes-eu-to-do-more?leadSource=uverify%20wall

    ==============================================

    Yermak calls on international investors to buy Ukrainian war bonds

    Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak has called on international investors to buy Ukrainian war bonds and transfer their business from the territory of the aggressor country to Ukraine.

    “I held an online conference with representatives of the world’s leading investment companies attended by almost 300 representatives, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Franklin Templeton, and others. I told our international financial partners that the whole world saw that Ukraine would not surrender and would not give up its independence and territorial integrity,” Yermak said at a briefing, streamed on Telegram account of the President’s Office, Ukrinform reports.

    Yermak added that he called on international business to invest in the purchase of war bonds issued by the Government of Ukraine.

    “It is also important that responsible companies leaving Russia today refocus on Ukraine. I warned that there are no signs of default in Ukraine. This problem should bother the aggressor country,” he said.

    He added that the authorities were already thinking about how to rebuild our country. To this end, Ukraine plans to attract funds from international partners, as well as reparations and compensation to be paid by the Russian Federation for its aggression.

    On February 24, Russian president Putin announced the beginning of a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops shell and destroy infrastructure, massively fire on residential areas of Ukrainian cities and villages using artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, and ballistic missiles.

    https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-economy/3433712-yermak-calls-on-international-investors-to-buy-ukrainian-war-bonds.html

    ================================================
    bloomberg – Ukraine War Bonds That Pay 11% Are a Risky Bet Investors Want to Buy

    Retail traders are willing to take on the risk and help Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, if only they can figure out how to purchase the bonds.

    The war bonds pay 11%, even higher than the ultra-popular U.S. inflation-protected debt that earns 7.12%.

    But unlike those American savings bonds, Ukraine’s debt comes with significant risk as Russia proceeds with its invasion of the country. Some retail investors are willing to take on that risk — and earn that double-digit payout — but right now that’s easier said than done.

    They are scouring investment forums on Reddit and tweeting at trading platforms like Robinhood Markets Inc. and Fidelity Investments, as well as Citigroup Inc., to ask how they can purchase some of the debt. Ukraine raised 8.1 billion hryvnia ($277 million) Tuesday in a sale of war bonds to institutional buyers — part of its effort to tap into global support for its fight against Russia.

    In spite of the devastating turmoil, Ukraine paid about $300 million of bond interest to international investors due Tuesday, honoring its financial commitments.

    Kevin van Langen, who lives in Greece, said he looked into how to buy war bonds because it’s a good short-term investment opportunity while he’s saving for a house and another way to help Ukraine. The individual bonds have a face value of 1,000 hryvnia — about $33.

    “You take some risk of course, but that’s a great way to help,” van Langen said in an interview. “You can use your savings for something good.”

    He also donated 250 euros ($278) through the National Bank of Ukraine, which is raising money to support its military.

    Robinhood declined to comment, noting that bonds aren’t tradable on its platform. Citi also declined to comment. Fidelity didn’t respond to a request for comment.

    The Ukrainian government is currently looking at other ways to raise foreign currency, and is in talks with the IMF and World Bank for emergency help, Yuriy Butsa, Ukraine’s debt chief, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

    “We had an investor call yesterday, and we see a lot of requests of how funds can support us,” he said. “We’re looking at ways to attract not only in local currency, but also in dollars, euros.”

    Althea Spinozzi, a Copenhagen-based senior fixed incomes strategist at Saxo Bank, said retail investors would be even more interested if Ukraine “is going to sell hard-currency bonds, either in U.S. dollars or in euros at a very high yield.”

    It’s not surprising that Ukraine sold a relatively small amount of bonds on Tuesday because international investors don’t typically want to own currencies that are not widely traded, Spinozzi said. She expects that Ukraine will try to borrow more money, issuing bonds in a more attractive currency.

    While stocks can be purchased with the click of a button on a brokerage app, most bonds are difficult for retail investors to buy because they are typically sold directly by banks to professional investors, and usually require a relatively large investment.

    But war bonds have been used by governments to finance military spending for years. The U.S. financed its World War I efforts through the issuance of Liberty Bonds, while the U.K. repaid part of its WWI debt in 2014 — 100 years after it first borrowed the money.

    David K. Thomson, an assistant professor of history at Sacred Heart University, said that “bond purchasing is a demonstration of faith in the government and a belief that they’re going to last.”

    Although the Ukrainian government’s decision to issue the war bonds is not unique, Thomson — the author of an upcoming book called “Bonds of War” — said it was a smart way to get “international buy-in” to the country’s cause.

    Ukraine is likely to rely on selling bonds to banks, who can then sell the debt to investors, in order to raise money in the fastest and easiest way possible, according to Damian Sassower, chief emerging market credit strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence. Institutions like the World Bank and IMF could help the country raise debt, he said.

    “It’s about speed and getting funds to the people who need it the most,” he said. “If we want to buy those bonds from the dealer desk that were just issued, and there’s demand for that, then they can do this all day long. I have to believe there will be.”

    Given that Ukraine is currently at war and its currency is under significant risk, there are real questions about whether or not the country will be able to repay the bonds, he said. Moody’s Investors Service placed Ukraine’s B3 credit rating under review for downgrade due to the geopolitical risk from the war with Russia.

    For Long Nguyen, the founder of a commercial real estate firm in California, the risks don’t matter. He first heard about the war bonds on the Ukraine subreddit, where posts include various ways for people to help support the country. The 53-year-old, who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975, views the potential investment as a “patriotic duty.”

    “I’ve been blessed by the bounties of this country. With my background as a refugee, I think it’s a great opportunity to really put money where my mouth and heart is,” Nguyen said. While he expects the war bonds to be “super-high-risk,” Nguyen said he is willing to invest as much as $5,000. But he hasn’t figured out a way to buy them.

    Will Chaney, a graduate student in Kansas, said he’s currently donating to the Red Cross and would be interested in purchasing Ukrainian war bonds if they were made available to retail investors. He’d be willing to spend $100, and is encouraging his friends to donate as well.

    “I would not expect any money back on it. It would all be in support of the Ukrainian people,” he said.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-01/how-to-buy-ukraine-war-bonds-investors-look-to-risky-bet-to-help-show-support#xj4y7vzkg

    ===========================================

    bloomberg – Ukraine War Bonds Are a Chance to GameStop the Evil Empire

    Lending Ukraine’s government money in the middle of an invasion combines the best of meme and ESG investing.

    Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine induces a feeling of helplessness in people who are not fans of autocracy or war crimes. We want to help, but short of strapping on a rifle and heading for Kyiv, there’s not much we can do besides maybe turning our Twitter avatars gold and blue.

    One classic way to alleviate this feeling is to send money. And people are donating to the many charitable groups helping Putin’s victims in Ukraine. People are donating lots of crypto, too. This may feel like a dubious favor, considering crypto’s wild volatility, but most of the swings have been upward these days.

    But what if we told you there was a way to lend money directly to Ukraine’s embattled government and maybe get huge interest payments in the bargain? Ukraine this morning gave investors a chance to do this by selling $277 million worth of war bonds. It’s a storied method of government fund-raising in times of conflict, most actively used in other European conflicts, namely World Wars I and II. Given Ukraine’s dicey credit rating and current dire circumstances, investors got a fat 11% yield, more than 5 times the coupon on a 30-year Treasury bond.

    On one level, this might speak to how desperately investors are chasing yield, no matter the source, at a time when high-grade interest rates are still near rock-bottom. To call this debt “risky” would be an understatement. This is a sovereign borrower that might not have sovereignty next week, and good luck trying to collect from Putin. Even if every Russian troop were miraculously raptured off the battlefield today, leaving Ukraine victorious and free, the country would still face a long, expensive cleanup from the damage already done.

    Ukraine did manage to make $300 million in outstanding coupon payments today, which is sort of shocking, considering. Many investors would probably have understood if Ukraine had chosen to spend that $300 million on Stinger missiles or something else instead. This seems like a country with an admirable dedication to paying its debts.

    But maybe the real benefit for investors was the satisfaction of helping to hand $277 million to a government fighting the good fight. Such quaint considerations as return and capital preservation might become a distant memory for those looking for a chance to make an investment combining qualities of both ESG and meme investing.

    The defining story of investing in 2021 was the GameStop revolution, which routed at least one major hedge fund and made people feel good about banding together to fight the Wall Street power. Surely weaponizing investments to fight Vladimir Putin and save democracy could offer something close to that value, even if they don’t pay out in the end.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-03-01/ukraine-war-bonds-fighting-putin-s-invasion-is-a-meme-esg-bet#xj4y7vzkg

    • Cash-strapped Ukraine faces pushback from Wall Street in debt talks: sources

      Ukraine is facing a fresh battle on the economic front — this time over millions of dollars in interest payments the war-ravaged nation owes on debts to Wall Street, The Post has learned.

      Volodomyr Zelensky’s cash-strapped government wants to restructure a $3 billion bond and is also seeking approval by Aug. 9 to delay a roughly $75 million interest payment to a lending group that includes Franklin Templeton, Blackrock and Aurelius Capital Management, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said.

      Ukraine is losing $5 billion a month as it struggles to fend off the invasion launched in February by Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, a source close to the Ukrainian government said. The United States is sending Zelensky $1.5 billion monthly to help offset the economic impact, in addition to military weaponry, the source added.

      “Taxpayers are giving billions of dollars to support Ukraine. Why is it that the desire for the lenders to have upside is greater than their desire to save the world from a calamity?” the source said.

      In 2015, Franklin Templeton owned more than one-third of the loan and is still a lender, though it may be at a smaller level.

      The lending group, meanwhile, is willing to delay the upcoming interest payment to keep the beleaguered country out of bankruptcy. But some creditors still object to Ukraine’s request to settle the debt in the next few years, a source close to the lenders said.

      “We are willing to defer the money but that doesn’t mean they should have the right to re-cut the deal,” the source said.

      The situation is unprecedented, according to University of Virginia Professor Mitu Galati, who focuses on sovereign debt restructuring and contracts.

      GDP bonds have been issued by countries before, in Greece and Argentina, but never to a country going through war and what might be a big rebuilding effort, he told The Post.

      “If Europe and the US put their shoulders to the wheel and help Ukraine recover then this could be a huge win for the bondholders,” Gulati said.

      Ukraine agreed to the unusual $3 billion loan, which carries no principal, when it was on the edge of bankruptcy in 2015. The terms would allow the lenders – beginning in 2025 – to collect 40% of the country’s gross domestic product annually if it exceeded $125 billion and was growing at more than 4% per year.

      JPMorgan in 2021 estimated the value of the bonds could wind up being around $8 billion, but that was before Putin’s forces shelled the country and devastated trade. Ukraine’s GDP has fallen to around $100 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund, after having reached $200 billion last year, its highest ever.

      Ukraine wants to pay off the bonds in 2025, 2026 or 2027 – before the annual payments on the bonds that mature in 2039 potentially become onerous — so the financially distressed government can more easily get new financing, sources said.

      The country is working with JPMorgan and law firm White & Case to convince enough lenders to restructure the bonds by Aug. 9, the source close to the lenders said. Lenders holding 75% of the $3 billion bond have to agree to any changes, the source said.

      “Opposition is building,” the source said. “This may not get through.”

      Last month, the Ukraine Ministry said it “received explicit indications of support” for the plan from a select group of lenders, including BlackRock.

      Aurelius, which has made a fortune in sovereign distressed debt and is known for suing Puerto Rico and Argentina so it could get its bonds paid in full, was not mentioned.

      Neither was Franklin. In 2015, the firm owned more than one-third of the loan and is still a lender, though it may be at a smaller level, sources said.

      Franklin and Blackrock refused requests for comment when contacted by The Post.

      Aurelius did not return a call for comment.

      None of the lenders have made a penny on their investment thus far, sources said.

      “The risk on the bonds was the downside we are experiencing today,” the source close to the government said.

      https://nypost.com/2022/08/04/cash-strapped-ukraine-faces-pushback-from-wall-street-in-debt-talks/

      ====================================

      MAY 2014 – Why Does Franklin Templeton Hold One Third Of All Ukraine’s Eurobonds?

      Emerging Markets, EBRD editions, May 15 2014

      As foreign capital has fled Russia and Ukraine, one of the world’s largest fund managers has taken a contrarian position that appears to show it holding more than one third of Ukraine’s entire outstanding sovereign Eurobonds.

      According to filings, Franklin Templeton’s total holdings in Ukrainian dollar and euro bonds stood at $7.6 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2014, having increased by $62 million over the course of the quarter. At the same time, the fund manager sold $29 million worth of Russian holdings to $1.2 billion, less than one sixth the amount it has invested in Ukraine. As at March 31, the $71 billion Templeton Global Bond Fund alone held bonds with a market value on that date of $3.183 billion, and a face value of just over $3.3 billion. Ukrainian debt also appears in various other Franklin Templeton funds, in particular European counterparts to the global product.

      By comparison, according to Bloomberg, the total amount of outstanding Ukrainian sovereign Eurobonds is officially US$17.3 billion, although total general government debt is considerably more.

      Although in the context of Franklin Templeton’s $190 billion global bond group the total is relatively modest in percentage terms, it is a sufficiently high-conviction move that the group’s chief investment officer, Michael Hasenstab, created a video last month to explain his reasoning to investors.

      He said he was attracted to Ukraine by a number of factors. “First, the long-term potential of this country. There’s an incredible wealth of human capital, of agricultural endowment, and Ukraine is strategically in a very important position.”

      He said that the less than 40% debt-to-GDP level was manageable, and that the government’s crisis management response was encouraging. “I think the current government has done an exceptional job of tackling not just the short-term issues but really setting the stage for Ukraine to flourish over the next five to 10 years by putting in place very difficult, but very important, structural reforms.”

      He also said that the level of support Ukraine had received from the US, Europe, the IMF and the World Bank was encouraging.

      Hasenstab is known for contrarian positions, having favoured Ireland and Hungary in the past when others were fleeing it. “Just because the market doesn’t like it, doesn’t necessitate that we do like it,” he said. “But we do look for situations that are out of favour when we go to a country.”

      The move is certainly daring: by May 1 Ukrainian dollar bonds had lost an average of 8% year to date, according to JP Morgan Chase indices. It is possible that the manager has pared its holdings since March 31, but Franklin Templeton representatives in London did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

      As Emerging Markets reported yesterday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch outlined a scenario in which, with further devolution of Ukrainian provinces, Ukrainian debt would default and have to be restructured, although the bank’s base case was that this would not happen. In BAML’s reading, the tipping point would be if Kharkiv sought independence as well as those provinces that have already voted for it, if those provinces consequently stopped providing money to the central government.

      https://www.chriswrightmedia.com/why-does-franklin-templeton-hold-one-third-of-all-ukraines-eurobonds/

      ====================================
      Ukraine And The Rothschild ‘Financial Vultures’ Family

      This article was published back in 2015, and it brings much needed context to the current situation in Ukraine.

      A group of large international investors buy out Ukrainian government’s securities. Franklin Templton is one of them. The investment group snapped up Ukrainian international debt with a face value of almost $5 billion at the end of August, nearly a fifth of the country’s outstanding international government bonds.

      Until now the sum paid by it for 20% of Ukraine’s national debt remains to be a commercial secret. The vultures purchase the securities with low, almost junk, ratings at low prices to demand full payment from issuer afterwards.

      Argentina is a good example of vultures’ destructive activities.

      The country made a deal on restructuring with 95-97% of debt holders but the rest happened to be in the hands of financial vultures that spoiled it all by demanding full payment. The vultures (two US investment funds) started court proceedings to make Argentina default. The country may be mercilessly pillaged in case it complies with the ultimatums of vultures and the ruling of US court.

      The story is a warning to Ukraine which has sold its securities to Franklin Templton. According to a recent Bloomberg report, the investment fund acts under US jurisdiction and is controlled by Rothschilds, the family known for its death grip.

      Last year I wrote in my article The Financial Situation of Kiev Regime and Prospects for Ukraine’s Default that Ukraine may face the very same default that «will never come» according the assurances provided by Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

      Some may lose billions, some may acquire unprecedented wealth. As the global experience shows, defaults are seldom impromptu. Normally they are planned. Sometimes the preparations may last for a few years. Ukraine is not an exclusion. It will default on its debts.

      The time will be defined by sponsors and modest beneficiaries of such organizations as Franklin Thompson. At the moment of writing the article I did not know their names. Now they have come into the open. It’s a sign that the drama is nearing its denouement.

      The Rothschilds family [which is the head of the New World Order beast] has come up with an initiative to create a group of Ukrainian bonds holders to shape a common policy on debt settlement. Rothschild & Cie Banque, a French bank belonging to Rothschild Group, offered its service in the capacity of «go-between» in the talks of Ukraine’s Ministry of Finances and creditors on restructuring the debt. Now creditors are waiting for Kiev to put forward the proposals in mid-March, according to Giovanni Salvetti, Co-head of Russia and CIS at Rothschild Inc., who handles central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Salvetti said there were two opinions among creditors about setting up the committee: those who want to wait and see what the government will say and those who want to set «some hard lines for the potential restructuring, like saying we’re looking for a proposal but be aware that we are not ready to accept X, Y, Z.»

      The Bloomberg’s information is not detailed but it allows to make the following conclusions: first, the default of Ukraine is inevitable and the credit holders are aware of this fact, second, the default will be accompanied by restructuring on tough terms unfavorable for Ukraine.

      One detail strikes an eye – the leak on the coming default and debt restructuring coincided with the announcement made by the International Monetary Fund that on March 11 it signed off on an USD17.5 billion loan for cash-strapped Ukraine to keep its economy afloat. The IMF loan is spread over four years within the framework of stabilization program.

      Watch below the Confessions of an Economic Hitman:

      The Coincidence May Be Interpreted In Different Ways:
      Version one. There is no coordination between the International Monetary Fund and the Rothschild group; they vie for the control over the Ukraine’s economy.

      Version two. It’s not a «genuine» decision» of the International Monetary Fund but rather a PR-action taken to prevent the further falling of Ukraine’s investment and credit rating.

      Version three. The decision is «genuine». Ukraine will get the money but not for some ephemeral «program of economic stabilization». The purpose is to guarantee that Franklin Templeton and other financial marauders acting under the disguise of respectable «investment funds» get full payment on Ukraine’s securities. If so, the Rothschilds and the International Monetary Fund do effectively coordinate their activities.

      The security holders are confident in inevitability of Ukraine’s default. In this case the country will be ruled by duumvirate of US government and world financial oligarchy on the basis of the agreement on debt restructuring to be signed in Kiev with the Rothschilds.

      It can be presumed, that the agreement will confirm the consent of Ukraine’s government on complete privatization of the country, including the rest of state industrial property, land and natural resources. Franklin Templton and other structures belonging to the Rothschilds will gain.

      Andrey Fursov, a Russian sociologist, historian and writer and publicist (author of several books on modern history), believes that the Rothschields are invisibly present in all Ukraine’s regions, including the eastern part of the country, and sectors of economy. The prime mission is to establish its control over the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (province) of central Ukraine where Rothschilds Europe Bank and Rothschilds-controlled Royal Dutch Shell already operate. It can be called a Rothschilds legal intelligence gathering station.

      Experts believe that that the illegal representation is much more effective to include many Rothschilds-controlled individuals and companies. Actually the implementation of the program of Ukraine’s sovereign debt restructuring will be based on the data received from Rothschilds’ legal and illegal spy stations in Ukraine.

      It’s all not that easy. The Rockefellers have a foothold in the west of Ukraine, the country where they pursue their own goals too. The both groups try to divide the spheres of interests but they cannot do it without bickering.

      For instance, many experts believe that tycoon Dmitry Firtash is the chief representative of the Rothschilds in Ukraine. His removal from the scene is attributed to the Rockefellers who effectively use the administrative potential of Washington in Kiev. The emerging duumvirate in Ukraine and the coming default make the situation in Ukraine less predictable.

      https://eraoflight.com/2022/03/10/ukraine-and-the-rothschild-financial-vultures-family/

      • Andrey Fursov, a RuSSian sociologist, historian and writer and publicist, … believes that the Rothschilds are invisibly present in all Ukraine’s regions…. It can be called a Rothschilds legal intelligence gathering station.

        We are invisibly present EVERYWHERE.
        Sometimes we manifest as sociologists and publicists. Just for fun.

        Lizards, of course.
        https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-accuses-west-of-using-lizards-for-nuclear-spying/

        Squirrels, too.
        https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3425130,00.html

        Agent Vulture (identifies as “Eagle”).
        https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2017/07/israeli-spy-eagle-shot-down-over-syria.html

        • well… the fun is not about “religion” but about “billionaires ” and the fact that a big portion of the money the WH is sending abroad to keep Ukraine afloat ends up in the pockets of French billionaires to pay the 11% interests on the huge amount of Ukrainian bonds they own ….

          • Grand theft everywhere, especially in countries screeching loudest about “rules-based order” with suckers to pay up. Ukraine is a criminal enterprise.

            Jew-hate is seldom about religion per se: it’s the ascription of dehumanizing characteristics to _DNA_. Selection bias, classic tropes – “vulture”, “death grip”, invisible demons who control the world.

            This article is typical USSR (pre- and post-).
            All-important identity papers listed region of birth (oblast) and class status of parents. Except for Jews, regarded as genetically disconnected from blood and soil. Their papers said “Jew”, and that said it all.

            (Many got false documents, like ambitious comrades born to “class enemies”.)

    • zero hedge – “2023 Will Be Year From Hell” – Martin Armstrong Warns Europe ‘Could Suck The Rest Of The World Down The Tubes’

      Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong says nothing is going to get better by the end of 2022, and he is still forecasting “chaos” coming in 2023.

      Armstrong says the plunge in the stock market last week is all because of “extreme uncertainty.” Armstrong predicted a stock market crash two months ago and contends, “It’s not over.”

      Europe is in big financial trouble with Russian natural gas turned off as a retaliation from the sanctions. Armstrong explains:

      “In Europe, I believe they are actually deliberately doing this, and this is Klaus Schwab’s ‘Great Reset.’

      They know they have a serious problem.

      They lowered rates to below 0% in 2014. They just started raising interest rates. Meanwhile, you ordered all the pension funds throughout Europe to have more than 70% in government bonds. Then they took it negative.

      All the pension funds are insolvent. Europe is fiscal mismanagement on a grand scale. There is no way it can sustain itself, and we are looking at Europe breaking apart.”

      So, could Europe suck the rest of the world down the tubes? Armstrong says, “Oh, absolutely. Europe is the problem…”

      “The crisis in banking will start in Europe…The debt is collapsing. They have no way to sustain themselves.

      The debt market over there is undermining the stability of all the banks.

      You have to understand that reserves are tied to government debt, and this is the perfect storm.

      Yes, the (U.S.) stock market will go down short term. We are not facing a 1929 event or a 90% fall here… Europeans, probably by January of 2023, as this crisis in Ukraine escalates, anybody with half a brain is going to take whatever money they have and get it over here.”

      So, where is smart money going to go? Armstrong says, “Stocks are like gold, it is on the same side of the table and is opposite government debt…”

      “People are not going to be buying government debt. They are going to be looking at anything in the private sector. . . . People are buying whatever they can to get off the grid.”

      Armstrong says governments are borrowing and spend huge amounts of money. The Fed will keep raising interest rates to fight inflation, but Armstrong says,

      “Raising interest rates will only make things worse. We have supply shortages, and raising rates will not fill the gaps.”

      Armstrong has never been more positive on buying gold. Why? Armstrong explains,

      “We are looking at a sovereign debt default. This is what’s going on. This is why Biden will spend whatever he wants because he knows he doesn’t have to pay it back. Eventually, this is what’s going to happen. This is Schwab’s agenda.”

      Armstrong has predicted “2023 will be the year from Hell.”

      Armstrong says, “Civil unrest will only get worse” this year, and he is predicting we will have full blown war next year.

      Armstrong contends Democrats are desperate and will do things like granting illegal aliens citizenship so they can vote in the mid-term elections.

      In closing, Armstrong says, “Something is going to spark a collapse in government again. It’s going to be something, I think, in Europe where they do something drastic because they have no other choice. . . . They need war as the excuse for the defaults of all the government debt.”

      There is much more in the nearly 59-minute interview.

      Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with Martin Armstrong, cycle expert and author of the upcoming new book “The Plot to Seize Russia, Manufacturing World War III” for 9.24.22.

      ================================
      rumble video – Banking Crisis will Start in Europe – Martin Armstrong

      https://rumble.com/v1lf2c5-banking-crisis-will-start-in-europe-martin-armstrong.html

      =====================================

      https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/2023-will-be-year-hell-martin-armstrong-warns-europe-could-suck-rest-world-down-tubes

      • This has been the year from hell, so many vaccine injured family and friends and deaths. I do hope we have Trudeau trials soon. I will put the rope where it needs to go.

    • MSN – Italian government summons Russian ambassador to Rome

      The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Russian ambassador in Rome, Sergei Razov, to the Ministry’s headquarters for this coming Monday.

      The Russian Embassy has been the one to inform of this summons, without the reason for it having transpired for the moment, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

      “The Russian ambassador has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday at 11.00 a.m. (12.00 noon Moscow time),” the Russian diplomatic mission in Italy has informed. It will be informed depending on the results, it has clarified.

      Italy has condemned the process of accession of Zaporiyia, Kherson, Lugansk and Donetsk to the Russian Federation, which culminated on Friday with the official announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

      https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/italian-government-summons-russian-ambassador-to-rome/ar-AA12uL5d

      ==============================================
      Germany Summons The Russian Ambassador

      Germany, like several other European countries, recalled the Russian ambassador. Sources from the German Foreign Ministry said today, Sunday, that “the Russian ambassador, Sergei Nechachev, was urgently summoned to the German Foreign Ministry.”

      This was the reaction of the federal government to the escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

      It is noteworthy that the Russian ambassador to Italy was also summoned for tomorrow, Monday, and the Russian ambassador to Belgium was summoned the day before yesterday, Friday.

      https://globeecho.com/politics/germany-summons-the-russian-ambassador/
      =============================================
      Danish Foreign Ministry summons Russian ambassador

      Russian Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin has been summoned to the Danish Foreign Ministry in connection with the annexation of the “Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics”, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson regions of Ukraine by Russia.

      The head of the foreign policy department of the foreign ministry should receive the ambassador, TASS reports referring to the Danish foreign ministry.

      Referendums in eastern Ukraine “have no legitimacy, are contrary to international law and all values that the country stands for”, the ministry quotes Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod as saying.

      Denmark “will never agree with Russia’s attempt to change Ukraine’s land borders through military force”.

      https://caliber.az/en/post/112319/

      =================================

      EU countries summon Russian ambassadors in coordinated response

      European Union countries have started summoning the Russian ambassadors in their capitals in a coordinated response to Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories, an EU official told dpa on Sunday.

      Germany has summoned the Russian ambassador in Berlin, the German Foreign Office confirmed to dpa.

      The Russian ambassadors to Italy, Austria and Denmark have been been summoned to the foreign ministries for Monday.

      The Russian ambassador to Belgium was already summoned on Friday.

      The summoning is coordinated by the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s diplomatic service.

      Also on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his country’s support for Ukraine in a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

      Macron assured his Ukrainian counterpart of France’s determination to help Ukraine restore its full sovereignty and territorial integrity and to work with its European partners towards new sanctions, the Élysée Palace said.

      The French president also condemned the arrest of the head of the occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant by Russian forces, it said.

      The Ukrainian nuclear authority on Saturday accused Russian forces of kidnapping the director general of the plant, Ihor Murashov, saying he had been dragged out of his car while at the site and taken blindfolded to an unknown location.

      Russian authorities later informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Murashov had been “temporarily detained to answer questions,” according to an IAEA spokesperson in Vienna.

      During their phone call, both presidents agreed that it was urgently necessary to facilitate the replacement of the Ukrainian employees who ensure the operation and safety of the plant, according to the statement.

      https://www.anews.com.tr/world/2022/10/02/eu-countries-summon-russian-ambassadors-in-coordinated-response

    • fox news All signs point to Russia on Nord Stream 2 pipeline sabotage

      Former U.S. Defense Intelligence Officer Rebekah Koffler discusses how Russia is the suspected culprit for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline sabotage

    • DEUTSCHE PRAVDA – How Greek tankers evade sanctions to move Russian oil

      Greek tanker owners are shipping more Russian oil than before — just months before the EU embargo comes into effect.

    • ABC News – Putin’s annexation announcement significant, but it’s also desperate’: Petraeus

    • Inside the British army base training Ukrainian civilians to fight

      British Army is helping train Ukrainian civilians in rudimentary soldiering skills to defend their homeland from Russia.

    • NATO Sec. General: ‘Any Use Of Nuclear Weapons Will Have Severe Consequences For Russia’

      Stoltenberg discusses how the alliance is responding to the alleged sabotage of the Nordstream pipelines between Russia and the European Union.

    • Douglas MacGregor – Would Ukraine joining NATO start World War III?

      The destruction of the pipeline was clearly not executed by Russia. No one believes that. In fact the Germam population is being polled and overwhelmingly is opposed to the notion of any war with Russia and dismisses out of hand the notion that the Russians are responsible for the pipeline.

  3. “Eureka!” shouted the professor. The others rushed to the table. There he had assembled what seemed to be an infinitely complex contraption of levers, wheels, sprockets and drive shafts.
    “Dr. Legeh. what have you done?” asked one assistant.
    “I have finally perfected our perpetual motion device!”

    A hushed sense of awe swept into the laboratory. The group had been concentrating on creating the device for many years. “Please demonstrate it for us,” said Murphy. Murphy had come to the team late as a junior researcher. He looked up to Dr. Legeh as a man of almost infinite intellect. A wizard. Dr. Legeh cleared his throat. He wore thick-framed glasses. A shock of curly grey hair sprouted from his head like a dense fern. Only the sandals on his feet seemed out of place in this facility run by an eccentric, brilliant scientist.
    “Now,” he began, “I shall introduce this small steel ball into the shoot.” The doctor held up the ball bearing between his index finger and thumb. The dozen white lab coats gathered around the work bench. “I trust you will all will contain your enthusiasm,” he said as he furrowed his brow and dropped the ball into the shoot located high on the contraption.

    Suddenly the machine came to life. Fly wheels began to whirr. A red light came on near lever 42-B. A green light pulsed at switch eight-six. The pully system on the left side kicked into motion, drawing forward a stainless steel camshaft that met with a toothed gear. Two technicians standing too close stepped back, wary of the noise and sudden power released by the now-animated machine. Dr. Charlotte Nilats, an early student of Dr. Legeh, stood with her arms folded across her chest. She watched as the steel ball wormed its way through the device. Occasionally she looked up at the other researchers, gauging their reactions. After about ten minutes of intense activity the ball spat out of the contraption on the opposite side from where Dr. Legeh had put it in. It bounced once on the wooden table top, then down onto the floor, rolling along until it, and Dr. Legeh’s greatest lifetime triumph, came to rest. The room roared with sudden silence.
    “That’s it?” Murphy asked, finally.
    “Indeed,” stated Dr. Legeh, straightening his posture proudly, very satisfied by the demonstration.
    “But it stopped. It’s supposed to go on forever,” said Murphy.
    “It has not stopped!” Dr. Legeh growled back. How dare this impudent pup speak to him this way.
    “But it has,” said Murphy pointing. “There’s the ball sitting over there on the floor.”
    “Pick it up,” said Dr. Nilats firmly, inserting herself with raised her voice.
    “Excuse me?”
    “Pick up the steel ball,” she repeated. She stared at Murphy with dead fish eyes. Murphy walked over and picked up the ball. “Now drop it into the shoot.” Murphy obeyed. The machine came back to life in all its cacophonous glory. “There,” said Dr. Nilats calmly.

    The other lab coats erupted into applause. “Bravo!” they shouted. “Nobel Prize!” said one. Consensus had been achieved. Over the next few days an announcement was composed by the lead administrators to present the discovery to the world. The statement was released to much fanfare. All legacy media reported what was one of peoplekind’s greatest advancements–on par with the discovery of gravity and the Theory of Relativity. Dr. Legeh was catapulted into scientific superstardom. He had almost singlehandedly solved the world’s energy crisis.

    National alternative energy programs of every western nation came to a sudden halt. These were deemed no longer sustainable. In fact, these now-obsolete technologies were denounced as grossly inefficient, and in fact legacies of the extremist patriarchy. Adding insult to injury they were not even recyclable.

    Dr. Legeh’s perpetual motion prototype was replicated all over the planet. Its engineering soon advanced into requiring but a single input. Following Dr. Legeh’s passing by causes unknown, it was discovered that the very best raw material for the machine was, in fact, other old and outdated perpetual motion machines.

    Peoplekind was saved. Neither Mr. Murphy nor any member of his family were seen or heard from again.

  4. Defender Children’s Health Defense

    The U.S.Food And Drug Administration is now advertising the new Covid-19 booster as an “antibody update” to “recharge your immunity” —as if your immune system were a battery that needs recharging, or your immunity a software system that requires gene therapy “updates”.

    This is transhumanist lingo that has no bearing on real-world or physiology and proves the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is on board with transhumanist ideas of technocracy pushed by the global cabal.

    Just when you thought the FDA couldn’t possibly get any worse, they prove you wrong.

    Here are 2 recent Covid-19 booster campaign messages tweeted out by the FDA:

    “It is time to install that update! #Update-YourAntibodies with a new Covid-19 booster”

    “Don’t Be Shocked! You can now “Recharge Your Immunity with an Updated Covid-19 booster”.

    RECHARGE YOUR IMMUNITY

    The FDA now wants you to believe that your immune system is something that needs to be “recharged” as if it were a battery or “updated” with mRNA injections like a piece of software.

    I cannot help but wonder if Yuval Noah Harari is directing the FDA.

    Vaccinated people NEED to ask themselves “What happened to my immune system that it needs “boosting”, “updating”, “recharging” and why are the “unvaccinated” not dropping dead”?

  5. Pump money into Florida where people have no FOOD, running water, hydro, phone lines, cell service, gas for their vehicles. Many people have nothing, absolutely nothing, they have lost everything, they need the government’s help.

    My son and his wife, children and dogs are some of the lucky ones, they have their home, neighbours were not so lucky. He rides his bike to wait in line to use cell service to let me know they are still OK. I have not heard from him for a few days, but I know they are helping others. You cannot drive to work without gas and your neighbour cannot drive his, she, they, It’s, electric car.

  6. MONTREAL GAZETTE – Anti-CAQ activists protest in Legault’s riding

    The protesters came to denounce pandemic restrictions and the media.

    People opposed to public health measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic gathered Saturday in L’Assomption, the riding of incumbent premier François Legault.

    The protesters were responding to a call from organizers of the “Dehors la CAQ” convoy and caused disruptions in this Lanaudière town of about 22,000 people, bringing traffic to a standstill.

    A large number of police were deployed to prevent confrontations with the population and keep the protest from degenerating.

    The protesters, who were headed to Legault’s riding office, came to denounce the government’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two and a half years.

    They carried signs demanding the departure of the CAQ and Legault, but who also paid tribute to the memory of those who died in CHSLDs.

    “I am here for one reason only: the 6,700 dead in CHSLDs who were left there alone, with no one to take care of them because they took away the right to enter. That’s enough,” said protester Patrick Gagnon.

    Some also wanted to denounce the news media, which they believed were biased against their cause. One wore a cape reading “Defund the media.”

    During an interview with Quebec City’s Radio X this week, Conservative Party Leader Éric Duhaime asked the protesters to remain peaceful.

    https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/anti-caq-activists-protest-in-legaults-riding

    ====================================

    city news – Quebec Election Day 36: Legault holds lead as vote nears despite ‘difficult’ campaign

    Polls show the Coalition Avenir Quebec in position to coast to a second majority government Monday, but political observers say there is still plenty to watch for on election night – in particular the profound political shift reflected in the battle for official Opposition.

    Thierry Giasson, director of the political science department at Universite Laval, says CAQ Leader Francois Legault has maintained his lead despite lacklustre debate performances and a “catastrophic” campaign in which he struggled to defend his record.

    “It wasn’t a good campaign for Francois Legault on pretty much every front,” he said in a recent interview. Legault was forced to apologize twice during the campaign: once for comments linking immigration to “violence” and “extremism,” and again after stating that the problems that led to an Atikamekw woman’s 2020 death at a Joliette hospital had been “resolved.”

    His comments drew a rebuke from Joyce Echaquan’s husband and the late woman’s community, who noted that the racism and prejudice that contributed to her death are far from over.

    Last week, Legault rebuked his immigration minister for claiming that 80 per cent of immigrants to the province “don’t work” or speak French, and the CAQ leader faced heat of his own for saying it would be “suicidal” to the Quebec nation if immigration levels were raised.

    “They are lucky, because they started with an enormous lead,” Giasson said of the CAQ, “but it’s good (for them) that the campaign isn’t longer.”

    Despite the campaign missteps, Legault is benefiting from a strong reserve of “sympathy and goodwill” that he cultivated during the last years of managing the pandemic, Giasson said, adding that Quebecers have tended to grant parties more than one mandate.

    The CAQ leader is also being served by – and contributing to – the narrative that none of the other parties could effectively govern the province, Giasson said. “Maybe that’s the only success of Francois Legault’s campaign: to discredit the alternatives campaigning against him.”

    On Friday, Legault told reporters that the ballot box question is, “Who has the best team to govern?” The premier said that while the five leaders grab the most media attention, the teams behind them are key.

    “Ask yourselves tomorrow morning, who would be minister of finance? Who would be minister of health? … It takes a solid economic team to transform the Quebec economy into a green economy … to make the health system more efficient.”

    Poll aggregator website QC125.com projects the possibility of a CAQ majority at over 99 per cent, even as the party’s polling numbers have slowly dropped below 40 per cent. The Liberals, Quebec solidaire, the Conservatives and the Parti Quebecois are all polling at around 14 to 17 per cent.

    Genevieve Tellier, a political studies professor at the University of Ottawa, says there appears to be little appetite for change among the Quebec population. She attributes that in part to the fact that Legault’s government has been in power just four years, as well as to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “The true option is, ‘Do we continue with the government that we know will be there if another major crisis occurs, or do we take a chance by going with the unknown?”’ she said, noting that the other leaders are relatively new to their positions.

    Of the four main parties seeking to unseat the CAQ, only the PQ has shown a noticeable rise in support in the polls since the election was called, reflecting what Tellier and Giasson described as a positive, ideas-focused campaign by leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

    Tellier said the most striking aspect of the campaign has been the fact that, for the first time, five parties have managed to gain significant public support _ something she thinks is ultimately good for democracy.

    “There are some left-wing parties, right-wing parties and so there are debates that force the voter to think about the different propositions and to position themselves,” she said.

    With the issue of Quebec sovereignty largely taking a backseat, the campaign’s focus has shifted to inflation and the cost of living, as well as the environment, the experts said.

    The Liberals, Coalition Avenir Quebec and Conservative party have all promised substantial tax cuts if elected, while Quebec solidaire has promised to suspend the sales tax on some essential items and raise the minimum wage.

    Eric Montigny, a political science professor at Universite Laval, said there could be some surprises on election night, even if a Legault victory appears all but certain. He said he’s especially interested in the fate of the once-dominant Liberals, whose impregnable strongholds on the Island of Montreal have become “houses of cards.”

    Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade, Conservative Leader Eric Duhaime and the PQ’s Plamondon are all in tight races in their own ridings, while Quebec solidaire’s election-night success depends on motivating young voters, who are traditionally more reluctant to cast ballots.

    He said some ridings are also seeing tight three-way races, which makes them particularly hard to call. “When there are several competitive parties, there can be surprises,” he said.

    https://montreal.citynews.ca/2022/10/02/quebec-election-legault-leads/

    • Poland, US/UK deep-state, and the WEF/Eurotrash elites lust for war against Russia. Their motives are different, their objectives incompatible. But they’re still together at the “enemy of my enemy” kickoff.

      I’m surprised the sabotage of NS-1+2 has gotten so little coverage in the West. The referenda are trivial in comparison.

      This is the end of an era. The future looks like an offspring of Von der Leyen and Schwab. Terrifying, unnatural, nonviable.

      Russia’s leverage for a diplomatic resolution has been blown up. Sub rosa negotiations with Germany, Hungary, Czech, Italy are terminated. If I knew about them, so did the saboteurs. Perfectly timed with the opening of the Baltic Pipe from Norway to Poland. Peerless cynicism.

      Germany, the industrial powerhouse of the EU, is caput. The third largest economy, Italy, has just been cut off from the Trans Austria Gas Pipeline. Timing.

      Deliberate, irreversible deindustrialization. Wipeout of the working and middle classes of Europe. Street protests can’t achieve anything except delay the inevitable. Briefly, via funny money.

      War is upon us.

  7. DEUTSCHE PRAVDA – Will Bolsonaro accept Brazil’s election results if he loses?

    Brazilians go to the polls after a highly polarized presidential election campaign that’s prompted fears of violence.

    Opinion polls give a clear advantage to the leftist former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
    And the right-wing incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, has hinted that he might not accept a defeat.
    DW correspondent Johann Ramirez sent this report on the election from Rio de Janeiro.

    • global news – Another Jan. 6? Bolsonaro attacks Brazil’s election, raising fears of violence

      Brazilians head to the polls on Sunday for a first round of voting that could mark the beginning of the end for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro — and experts are growing increasingly concerned he won’t go without a fight.

      The right-wing firebrand is expected to lose to popular leftist former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, widely known as Lula, in the first round. If no candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the vote, a runoff set for Oct. 30 is likely to further solidify da Silva’s victory.

      But Bolsonaro, who has trailed in the polls throughout the campaign, has indicated he will not accept this outcome, telling his millions of supporters in June they “will go to war” if he loses. He has also repeatedly attacked the country’s election system, claiming without evidence that officials are aligned against him and that electronic voting machines are prone to fraud.

      On Wednesday, Bolsonaro’s party released a document alleging officials within the government have the “absolute power to manipulate election results without leaving a trace.” The claim was not backed by evidence and was called “false and dishonest” by the national electoral authority.

      The document’s release, which is now under investigation by Brazil’s Supreme Court, marks the latest escalation in an already violent campaign. Several Lula supporters and at least one Bolsonaro backer have been killed in recent months.

      Experts say Bolsonaro’s rhetoric threatens to incite Brazil’s own version of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-president Donald Trump, who were also led to believe in a “stolen” election despite no evidence.

      “The fear is two-fold: what will Bolsonaro do as leader of the government, of the military, but also what will his supporters do on a societal level?” said Manuel Balan, a professor of political science at McGill University who studies Latin America.

      Elected in 2018, Bolsonaro has divided the public over his conservative agenda, which has done little to raise millions out of poverty as he promised while also attracting negative attention for sexist and racist comments.

      Under his watch, deforestation of the Amazon rainforest — critical to global health — has accelerated after his administration cut environmental regulations and weakened Indigenous land claims, leading to more than a thousand fires a day last month and nearly a million hectares burned over the past year. Loggers are able to escape fines with virtually no inspectors to enforce them.

      Bolsonaro further weakened his standing with his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He dismissed the virus as “a little flu,” — only to be infected himself twice — opposed health restrictions and was slow to adopt vaccines. The death toll in Brazil ultimately rose to the second highest in the world, with over 685,000 lives lost.

      Da Silva served as president from 2003 to 2010 and is remembered for introducing a series of social programs that are credited with expanding the middle class and boosting the national economy.

      In 2017, he was convicted on corruption and money laundering charges, and he spent nearly 20 months in prison after being barred from challenging Bolsonaro in the 2018 election. His charges were ultimately annulled last year by the Supreme Court, which found the judge in the case was politically biased.

      Da Silva’s immediate popularity upon entering this year’s race shows much of the public has forgiven him, experts say.

      “Brazilians understand (da Silva’s conviction and imprisonment) was a politically motivated attempt to derail his campaign to allow Bolsonaro to win,” said Max Cameron, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia.

      Meanwhile, the case is increasingly being made that a victory for da Silva would benefit not just Brazil, BUT THE PLANET. A new study found Amazon forest loss would drop 89 per cent if Bolsonaro is defeated.

      Tensions rising
      The latest polls show da Silva’s lead over Bolsonaro is within reach of taking half of all votes cast on Sunday with a healthy lead over Bolsonaro.

      Yet the possibility remains that da Silva could fall just short of 50 per cent, sending the two frontrunners to a runoff in four weeks — a time that could see further unrest.

      Bolsonaro has spent months preparing his supporters to doubt the first-round results, saying in an interview last month that if he doesn’t win outright by at least 60 per cent of the vote, “it is because something abnormal has happened.”

      “I have three alternatives for my future: being arrested, killed or victory,” Bolsonaro told evangelical leaders in August.

      Da Silva has taken to wearing bulletproof vests at campaign rallies, while federal police officers tasked to guard him have called for backup over fears of “radicalized opponents.”

      Beyond the potential for violence in the streets or at government buildings, Bolsonaro may have one advantage that Trump did not when he was fighting his loss: military commanders willing to do his bidding.

      Since the summer, some leaders of Brazil’s armed forces have indicated they share the president’s doubts about election integrity — as well as Bolsonaro’s view that the military ultimately answers to him as long as he is president. The defence ministry has assured the U.S. Pentagon it will not interfere in the vote.

      Balan also worries that, rather than challenge the election results in the courts, as Trump did, Bolsonaro could simply shut down and dismantle Brazil’s courts altogether.

      “That’s the fear I have, that this dismantling of democratic institutions that he has been delegitimizing for months now will continue, and even lead to repression and military in the streets,” he said.

      Balan and Cameron ultimately have faith that democratic institutions in Brazil will stand up to Bolsonaro’s attacks, and that — just like in Washington last year — enough government officials and military leaders will do what’s right to prevent a hostile takeover.

      But both experts say that doesn’t mean Bolsonaro or his supporters will disappear. His party could form opposition in the congressional elections also happening on Sunday, blocking da Silva’s policies and deadlocking government. Bolsonaro can also run again, unless he is convicted in one of the multiple corruption investigations against him.

      His influence also has the potential to spread.

      “I think that’s one of the reasons we’re all watching this (election) closely: will the two sides of the political spectrum in the biggest democracy in the region learn to play by the same rules?” Cameron asked.

      “Or will we start to see more efforts to subvert democracy here and elsewhere (in Latin America)?”

      https://globalnews.ca/news/9168866/brazil-election-bolsonaro-lula-violence/

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    • twitter @disclosetv

      UPDATE – Bolsonaro and Lula will go to a runoff on October 30th.

      Pollsters incorrectly expected a clear victory of over 50% for Lula before the election.

      Lula – 47.63%
      Bolsonaro – 43.88%

      95% of votes counted.

      https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1576724836725886976

      ====================

      JUST IN – Leftist Lula falls short of an outright win in Brazil’s election and will face Bolsonaro in a runoff election on October 30th.

      https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1576728765136191488

      ===========================
      sky news australia

  8. Seth J. Frantzman:
    Iran accused of massacre in South amid wave of protests

    Footage showing Iranian security forces massacring protesters using live ammunition in Zehdan, southern Iran during Friday prayers was posted online, showing shows Iranians bleeding and apparently shot.

    Other videos purportedly show the aftermath of clashes between locals and members of the local security forces, with protesters allegedly trying to storm a police station and being shot.

    Protests in minorities-dominated areas surge in Iran
    The recent incident came as protests continue in Iran and the regime appears to be resorting to more force against the protesters. In Sistan Balochistan, Iran fears a larger rebellion among the minority Baloch people. This area borders Afghanistan and Pakistan. There has been an insurgency in this region for many years, including across the border in Pakistan.

    Meanwhile, in Ahwaz, the province in Iran’s Southwest which contains a large Arab minority, there were also protests reported on Friday. The overall picture then is one of the growth of the protests in southern Iran.

    The protests began in the Kurdistan region two weeks ago, but they have spread to Tehran and many other cities. The regime was careful the first week to not carry out massacres.

    However, as the protests are now two weeks old the regime is lashing out and has threatened to attack US forces in Iraq after attacking Kurdish opposition groups…

    Plus the 12 million Azeris of Iran, observing another way of life just over the northern border in Azerbaijan.

    Iran claims to foil “Zionist plan for chaos”
    In addition, on Thursday night, Iranian media reported that it had foiled what the regime called a “Zionist” plan for chaos in Iran. The regime also admitted numerous banks and financial institutions had been damaged in the protests.

    Meanwhile, Iran’s regime may be facing more critiques from its own scholars and clerics, as it cracks down on women, minorities, journalists and massacres protesters. […] The regime may be losing legitimacy at the top and at the bottom; meaning it faces increasing anger from minority regions, such as the Kurdish region; and also among its own supporters.

    Iran’s regime is also lashing out at Saudi Arabia, slamming Gulf media for stoking the protests. It is also going after its own celebrities, claiming they incite riots.

    […] This shows a shift in regime rhetoric from trying to calm tensions and even make up for killing a woman for not wearing a head covering; to threatening the US, Israel and the Gulf; and beginning to massacre more minority groups in the South.

    https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-718608
    ================
    See the distribution of ethnic minorities:
    http://mida.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Iran_ethnoreligious_distribution_2004.jpg
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    Terrific article – FREE !!
    Iran Is More Than Persia: Ethnic Politics in the Islamic Republic

    From the Intro:
    For most of the Soviet period, the West tended to refer to Soviet citizens as the “Russians” and assumed that the regime’s efforts to Russify non-Russian citizens across the Soviet Union were successful. Not until the mid-1980s, when protests emerged during Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms, did it become clear that ethno-nationalism was a politically potent force in the Soviet Union…

    Iran is a multiethnic country; Persians comprise less than half of Iran’s population. Overwhelming majorities of non-Persian groups inhabit most of Iran’s border provinces, in contrast to Iran’s Persian-dominated center. Moreover, over 40 percent of the population of Iran lacks fluency in the Persian language.

    Ethnic cleavages and dissatisfaction pose growing challenges to the rule of the regime in Iran. When they overlap with poverty and lower levels of government services and infrastructure, these challenges become more severe. Iran’s ethnic minorities inhabit the state’s poorest provinces…

    Technological changes, including widespread access to foreign television and social media in minority languages, have strengthened identity trends in Iran. Large percentages of Iran’s ethnic minorities regularly watch foreign television broadcasts in their native languages instead of regime television, which often depicts ethnic minorities with derogatory stereotypes.

    Ethnic groups in Iran are also exposed via social media to the wave of identity politics in the United States and Europe…

    https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2021/04/28/iran-is-more-than-persia/

    • Iran: The Chained Volcano

      Today’s Damavand [volcano] s made of a new generation of Iranians who don’t give tuppence about the Islamic Republic’s arcane narrative, and prefer life in the modern world, warts and all, to the North Korean-style society that “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei is trying to impose on Iran.

      The uprising was triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year old woman on a family visit to Tehran.

      Within 24 hours of her death, allegedly as a result of beatings by security agents, Amini’s name was known to almost all Iranians and, within 48 hours, it had become a symbol of resistance to tyranny across the world.

      By the time of writing this column, we had received the names of 84 people, including nine women and six children, killed by security, while semi-official figures put the number of arrests at over 1,800.

      The uprising has spread to over 300 towns and cities, some of which are witnessing protests for the first time in recent history.

      Early in its existence, the Khomeinist regime established self-preservation as its highest goal. Khomeini called it “the obligation of obligations” (oujab al-wajebat in Arabic), asserting that to protect the regime, even Islam could be set aside.

      Regime protection forces, excluding the national army, number over 600,000 men. Islamic security is organized in nine different units, at least four of them trained and equipped for crushing street protests.

      All security units, including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), benefit from numerous advantages, notably salaries that are 30 percent higher than comparable ones in the national army.

      The latest uprising is different from previous ones in a number of ways…. This time, the almost unanimous call is for regime change.

      Until this writing, Khamenei, who shed tears for the death of George Floyd in the United States, has been silent on the eruption that threatens his regime.

      https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18947/iran-chained-volcano

  9. A 7-yr old child dies suddenly. “Heart failure”.
    How to explain…?

    US asks Israel to launch investigation after boy dies during riots

    Israel said it was not involved in the death of a Palestinian boy who family members said died form heart failure while running away from troops.

    The US State Department voiced sorrow at the incident and encouraged an investigation. Seven-year-old Rayyan Suleiman was coming home from school with other pupils in the village of Tuqu when troops gave chase, and he “died on the spot from fear,” his father Yasser said in a video circulated on social media.

    A medical official who inspected the body told Reuters that it bore no sign of physical trauma and that the death appeared consistent with heart failure. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the incident as “an ugly crime” by Israel.

    An Israeli military spokesman said troops were in the vicinity at the time to search for Palestinians suspected of fleeing into the village after having thrown rocks at motorists…

    In Washington, deputy State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said, “The US is heartbroken to learn of the death of an innocent Palestinian child.”

    “We support a thorough and immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the child’s death” alongside an Israeli military probe, he added.

    https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/09/30/us-asks-israel-to-launch-investigation-after-death-of-boy-during-riots/

    • Incidentally, this is a stunning example of the sick dynamics in current US-Israel relations. A demonstration of ‘America the Ugly’ and an obamanoid disfigured Israeli govt.

      – – The Empire needs a public relations boost. So it manufactures a grievance to chastise a colony, showcase its own moral superiority and the power it retains over subordinate entities.

      – – Gravitas: Invoking the awesome voice of the *US State Department* transforms this non-event into a global media moment.

      – – Lost face: Signals generalized displeasure with the Colony, i.e. no love lost for the Zionist Entity. There’s no halo effect that might enhance its appeal – say, as a back door channel to the Oval Office, or as an ally against Iran.

      – – Colony responds with shuffle-&-jive.
      Yessir, anything you say master!
      May the Israeli election this month clean house!

      The whole world observes these little dances. They contribute to decisions on policy that actually matter. For example, watch India lean away from Israel, toward Russia's BFF - Iran. And no way will Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords, the petrodollar will be hung out to dry.

    • Media Print Viral Libel That Palestinian Boy ‘Died of Fear’ After Being ‘Chased’ by IDF

      According to Israeli army spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a “senior officer” visited the Suleiman home after boys from Teqoa were seen throwing stones toward cars driving on a highway near a neighboring Jewish community.

      Video footage posted to TikTok by pro-Palestinian accounts shows a young boy alleged to be Rayan Suleiman hurling objects with a slingshot in what is described as a “confrontation with the enemy.”

      One of the stone-throwers was spotted on the house’s balcony, and the IDF officer reportedly arrived to urge Yaser Suleiman to make his children stop throwing rocks. Hecht said the official spoke in a “very calm manner” before going on his way.

      “There was no violence, no entry into the house,” he told local media while stating that Jerusalem ordered an ongoing probe into the matter. A security source cited by TPS added that there is “no connection” between the military operation in Tekoa and Rayan’s death, crucially noting that the boy passed away after the army had already left.

      Nevertheless, in a September 30 piece titled ‘Palestinians mourn boy who died ‘of fear’ of Israeli troops,’ the Associated Press (AP) echoed claims by Yaser Suleiman that his son “died of fear on the spot” when soldiers “burst into the home…”

      The Reuters wire service likewise parrotted the family’s narrative that the 7-year-old, who they said did not have any preexisting health conditions, “died of heart failure while being chased by Israeli soldiers.”

      However, Suleiman’s testimony can hardly be given credence, and would likely not hold up in any court of law. Just hours after the incident, Arab journalists quoted Yaser Suleiman as saying that Rayan did not die of a sudden cardiac arrest, but was rather “martyred” following a fall from the balcony of the house…

      https://honestreporting.com/media-print-viral-libel-that-palestinian-boy-died-of-fear-after-being-chased-by-idf/

  10. “Fully Vaccinated” NFL Megastar JJ Watt Says His Heart Went Into “A-Fib” This Week, Had to Be Shocked Into Rhythm
    by J. D. Rucker – October 2, 2022
    https://thelibertydaily.com/fully-vaccinated-nfl-megastar-jj-watt-says-his-heart-went-into-a-fib-this-week-had-to-be-shocked-into-rhythm/

    “I was just told somebody leaked some personal information about me and it’s going to be reported on today. I went into A-Fib on Wednesday, had my heart shocked back into rhythm on Thursday and I’m playing today. That’s it.” JJ Watt – October 2, 2022
    https://twitter.com/JJWatt/status/1576606541213360128

  11. Netanyahu accuses Lapid of giving into Hezbollah ‘blackmail’
    The US-brokered deal on the Israel-Lebanon maritime border becomes the latest fuel in the campaign battle between Interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu.