Tag: Tourism

Laos: From Landlocked to High-Speed Rail-Linked

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

October 19, 2021 (Brian Berletic – NEO) – For anyone who travelled through the rugged landlocked Southeast Asian country of Laos years ago, they will remember the twisting mountain roads and the many days by bus it would take to traverse the terrain from China’s border with Laos at Boten to the Laotian capital of Vietniane across the Mekong River from Thailand’s city of Nong Khai.

Laos: From Landlocked to High-Speed Rail-Linked

Wall Street’s Takeover of Nature Advances with Launch of New Asset Class

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

A project of the multilateral development banking system, the Rockefeller Foundation and the New York Stock Exchange recently created a new asset class that will put, not just the natural world, but the processes underpinning all life, up for sale under the guise of promoting “sustainability.”

Wall Street’s Takeover of Nature Advances with Launch of New Asset Class

US officials warn against all travel to Russia, citing ‘terrorism’ concerns & inability to provide consular support

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

RT | June 29, 2021

The US State Department has told its citizens not to travel to Russia under any circumstances, with Washington suggesting that Americans could be kidnapped, arrested, tortured and even supposedly jailed on trumped-up charges.

US officials warn against all travel to Russia, citing ‘terrorism’ concerns & inability to provide consular support

Could Putin woo Turkey from Biden and NATO?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Could Putin woo Turkey from Biden and NATO?

Why do the Turks have such a negative sentiment towards its ally? It is worth noting that Ankara and Washington have been at odds over several issues. For instance, in 2019 the US imposed sanctions on Turkey over Ankara’s incursion into Syrian Kurdistan. A year later, Washington once again punished its NATO partner, this time because of Turkey’s decision to purchase S-400 air defense systems from Russia. In addition, the US supports the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, while Ankara sees the YGP as a terrorist organization because of its alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Moreover, to this day America refuses to extradite to Turkey Fetullah Gulen – a Pennsylvania-based former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned deadly enemy, who is accused of complicity in a 2016 failed coup attempt.

Although improving ties with both, Russia and the United States, seems to be one of Erdogan’s top priorities for the time being, Ankara will likely keep implementing its relatively sovereign foreign policy, which could eventually lead to confrontation with Moscow. Russian media and analysts have already started blaming Turkey for its actions in Syria’s Idlib province that is controlled by the Turkey-backed forces. They accuse Ankara of de facto annexation of the region by introducing Turkish lira as the official currency, giving Turkish passports to the local population, and building schools and hospitals in the north of Syria. Ironically enough, that is exactly what the Kremlin is doing in the Donbass region of Ukraine that has been under control of the pro-Russian forces since 2014.

Russia good, Turkey bad. /s

Related:

Greater Kurdistan Project: Is It Turkey’s Turn on the Chopping Block?

Turkish-US Relations Won’t Recover Until US Drops ‘Greater Kurdistan Project’

Greater Kurdistan: A Work in Progress Brought to You by NATO, President Peace Prize and… Israel

Regional Remake Birth Pangs- Syria, In a Repeat of The Balkanization/Destruction Of Iraq

Australia Sabotaged Its Own Interests in China Relations

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Australia Sabotaged Its Own Interests in China Relations

But the consequences will be great. Australia will be needlessly poorer, more isolated from our region, and more dependent on the uncertain protection of faraway Five Eyes friends. Without a dialogue with China, our necessary engagement with our region will be handicapped. Lee Kuan Yew’s friendly warning — “be careful or you will be the poor white trash of Asia” — comes back now to haunt us.

Inside China’s High-Speed Rail Project Bound for Southeast Asia

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Inside China’s High-Speed Rail Project Bound for Southeast Asia

Arguments against the construction of Thai and Laotian high-speed rail based merely on passenger numbers and revenue projections are lazy arguments and are made primarily by a West otherwise unable to compete with China’s growing influence and role in Asia – a region the US saw itself maintaining primacy over for another century.