U.S. ups the ante: are we indeed headed into WWIII and what can save us?

Gilbert Doctorow, 9/9/22

The UK and Commonwealth may be mourning the passing of Queen Elizabeth II yesterday. I am in mourning as well, but for a very different reason: the gathering of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein air base in Germany yesterday reshuffled the deck on Western military and financial assistance to Ukraine, raising contributions to the ongoing holy crusade against Russia from still more nations and adding new, still more advanced precision strike weapons to the mix of deliveries to Kiev. It was an open summons to the Kremlin to escalate in turn, as were the test firing the same day of a new intercontinental rocket, the Minuteman III, from Vandenberg air base in California and the unannounced visit to Kiev yesterday of not only Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was featured in Western media accounts, but also other top officials of the Biden administration. The most notorious member of this delegation was surely Blinken’s deputy, Victoria Nuland, who had stage managed the February 2014 coup that put in power in Kiev the Russia-hating regime that Zelensky now heads.

Gilbert Doctorow: U.S. ups the ante: are we indeed headed into WWIII and what can save us?

Related:

A Former US Marine Corps Officer’s Analysis of the Ukraine War (archived, in case the original is removed)

H/T: Natylie’s Place: Understanding Russia

Rand Paul blasts DC priorities: No one hit by severe Kentucky floods asked me to send more foreign aid

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called out the “enormous disconnect” between Congress’ priorities and those of their constituents, as billions of taxpayer dollars have gone to foreign aid while people in his own state have little to no help with deadly flood recovery.

For his part, Paul is locked in a midterm election battle with progressive former state Rep. Charles Booker, D-Louisville.

Rand Paul blasts DC priorities: No one hit by severe Kentucky floods asked me to send more foreign aid

Related:

Rand Paul is Being Dragged For Requesting Federal Aid For His Tornado-Ravaged State After Routinely Voting Against Past Disaster Relief Bills

In 2013, after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of the Northeast, including New York, Paul voted against a bill providing recovery funds. In 2017, he voted against relief sent to Puerto Rico after it was pounded by Hurricane Maria, as well as assistance for Texas after it was hit by Hurricane Harvey. In 2019, he voted against a sweeping bill that earmarked $17.2 billion in disaster relief funding to several federal agencies.

Who are the 11 senators who voted against the burn pits bill for veterans?

Political commentators were less surprised to see Mr Paul oppose the bill, as the libertarian frequently opposes federal spending — unless it directly benefits him.

UK’s New Prime Minister Makes No Apologies for Favoring the Wealthy

UK’s New Prime Minister Makes No Apologies for Favoring the Wealthy

Truss also went out of her way to channel Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, who remains as iconic among the Tory Party base as Ronald Reagan is for Republicans in the U.S. Truss has studied Thatcher’s body language, has adopted her dress style — as Twitter users were quick to point out — and has reached for many of the same rhetorical tools. Yet, style notwithstanding, she has nowhere near the ideological consistency or heft of a Thatcher.

It will take all of Truss’s shape-shifting talents, and then some, to turn around the election ship for the Conservatives over the coming two years, which is the time span that Truss has before the next general election must be called. In the meantime, as the U.K. grapples with a deepening economic crisis, all of the new prime minister’s public statements suggest that the country is going to be dragged ever-further rightward into a deregulated, anti-union, Brexit-hued future.

God Save The UK!

Belgium PM: “Next 5-10 Winters Will Be Difficult” As Energy Crisis Persists

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo might have spilled the beans about the duration of Europe’s energy crisis. He told reporters Monday, “the next 5 to 10 winters will be difficult.” “The development of the situation is very difficult throughout Europe,” De Croo told Belgium broadcaster VRT.

Belgium PM: “Next 5-10 Winters Will Be Difficult” As Energy Crisis Persists

Putin Throws Down the Gauntlet Again at Western Currency System

Today we will touch upon President Putin’s speech at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia.

Just like back in June of this year, Putin trash-talked not only the dollar but the euro and the British pound.

He also announced that Russia and China would be bypassing the dollar from now on when dealing with natural gas.

Eastern Economic Forum

CNBC Article

Putin Throws Down the Gauntlet Again at Western Currency System via maneco64