Famously Noncompliant,
Every effort is being made to dishonestly maintain our consent, the consent of the governed, at lower cost, less and less "carrot", and more pervasive fear of the "stick".
This undermining of faith in the integrity of government has been happening at the worst possible time, with the economy inflecting from growth into contraction, a ‘GFC II’ financial crisis looming, and a very real environmental and ecological crisis unfolding.
Ideally, governments would be addressing these issues in search of constructive responses centred on the good of the public as a whole, and the governed would be placing trust in the honesty and intentions of the governing.
In fact, the very opposite has happened, and we need to try to work out why...
..Economics aren’t everything in government, but aren’t very far off. People enjoying prosperous lives, in a society whose fairness they trust, are very unlikely revolutionaries. Hardship, and perceptions of unfairness and dishonesty, are the stuff of which political instability is made.Ideally, governments would be addressing these issues in search of constructive responses centred on the good of the public as a whole, and the governed would be placing trust in the honesty and intentions of the governing.
In fact, the very opposite has happened, and we need to try to work out why...
From this perspective, the ‘establishment’ – or whatever term we choose to apply – has two very big problems. First, their routine assurances that economies are continuing to grow are being falsified by events. Second, their behaviour during and after the 2008-09 global financial crisis was inexcusable...
..By the second half of the 1990s, in a process known at the time as “secular stagnation”, economic growth was decelerating very markedly. The proposed ‘fix’ was credit expansion, which didn’t re-energise the economy (because it couldn’t), but did lead straight to a very serious financial crisis...
..The adoption of credit adventurism was ‘the break-in’ in this economic version of Watergate, and the response to the GFC was ‘the cover-up’, and the latter did a lot more damage than the former.....We need to be in no doubt at all about what these policies did. First, they were a gigantic exercise in moral hazard. Second, they handed enormous gains to some at the expense of others. Third, they abrogated the principles of market capitalism.
By moral hazard is meant the sending of dangerous signals. What should have happened during the GFC was what had happened in previous financial crises – those who had been reckless, or were simply unlucky, would be wiped out, the system would dust itself off, and normality would return. But rescuing dangerously overindebted businesses and individuals sent the message that, should similar conditions recur, they could expect to be rescued again. This took off the brakes on all kinds of excess risk.
Worse still, the extreme tools used to rescue the reckless at the expense of the prudent handed enormous unearned gains to (generally older) people who already owned assets, at the expense of (generally younger) people who aspired to find rewarding careers and start to accumulate capital.
Third, these enormous interventions destroyed the essential principles of market capitalism. In a market system, the possibility of taking big losses is a necessary corrective to the pursuit of profit. If rescuing the reckless wasn’t bad enough in itself, ultra-low rate policies made it impossible for investors to earn positive real (above inflation) returns on their capital. The markets were prevented from carrying out their essential functions, which are price discovery and the pricing of risk...
..I can’t recall being given an opportunity to vote on a programme of rescuing the reckless, handing enormous unearned capital gains to a favoured few, or scrapping the basic precepts of market capitalism...Worse still, the extreme tools used to rescue the reckless at the expense of the prudent handed enormous unearned gains to (generally older) people who already owned assets, at the expense of (generally younger) people who aspired to find rewarding careers and start to accumulate capital.
Third, these enormous interventions destroyed the essential principles of market capitalism. In a market system, the possibility of taking big losses is a necessary corrective to the pursuit of profit. If rescuing the reckless wasn’t bad enough in itself, ultra-low rate policies made it impossible for investors to earn positive real (above inflation) returns on their capital. The markets were prevented from carrying out their essential functions, which are price discovery and the pricing of risk...
..Instead of conveying an impression of competence in an emergency, the handling of the GFC sent the message that, when a crisis arises, the instinctive response of the authorities is to take care of the wealthy and the well-connected, and leave everyone else to take their chances.
Having blown this enormous hole in their credibility, the authorities are reduced to giving assurances that cannot be believed. They insist that “growth” is continuing, a claim which is put in context in the following charts. A 2% rise in real GDP isn’t “growth” if the government has to borrow 8% of GDP to make it happen. There’s no point in rival politicians promising “growth” in a country whose prosperity hasn’t grown in fifteen years, and whose social infrastructure is falling to bits.....The only thing that’s really growing now is the World’s gigantic burden of debt and quasi-debt.
No amount of ingenuity can deliver material resources that don’t exist, or repeal the laws of physics to deliver infinite economic growth on a finite planet...
..In an ideal world, the powers that be would admit that economic growth has gone into reverse, and apologise for the monetary gimmickry maintained for more than a decade after the GFC.
This won’t happen, of course. The authorities may not know about the inflexion from growth into contraction, though this is hard to believe. They may have slipped into the trap of – as one senior politician said of another – “believing your own press releases”. They may be following the old adage of ‘don’t announce a problem until you can announce a solution’.
In the absence of constructive policies for managing economic contraction, we’re in for a set of one-at-a-time discoveries. These are going to include discretionary contraction, a financial crisis bigger than that of 2008-09, and the realisation that technology, far from putting us in control of the universe, can’t even carry on making big money.
This won’t happen, of course. The authorities may not know about the inflexion from growth into contraction, though this is hard to believe. They may have slipped into the trap of – as one senior politician said of another – “believing your own press releases”. They may be following the old adage of ‘don’t announce a problem until you can announce a solution’.
In the absence of constructive policies for managing economic contraction, we’re in for a set of one-at-a-time discoveries. These are going to include discretionary contraction, a financial crisis bigger than that of 2008-09, and the realisation that technology, far from putting us in control of the universe, can’t even carry on making big money.
An Austrian journalist friend covered the aftermath of the ISIS occupation. The scenes he described to me were so indescribably shocking that I wouldn’t have believed them had I not known him to be an honest reporter. Most of the photographs he took could not be published because they were simply too horrifying.
Around the same time, a Sheriff’s Deputy in North Carolina told me about the contents of DVDs she had seized from the vehicle of a U.S. Marine who murdered his wife and children shortly after he returned from duty in Afghanistan. The DVDs contained video recordings of scenes so horrifying that the county sheriff decided to destroy them. He reasoned that if the videos were ever leaked to the press, the ensuing scandal would be the end of the U.S. Marine Corps.
The Iraq War was, for me, a profoundly dispiriting and disillusioning event. Never again would I trust the United States government to tell the truth about any serious matter.
The Iraq War prompted me to study what exactly President Eisenhower meant when he warned the American people about “the undue influence of the Military-Industrial Complex.”
Four years ago, in 2020, this “undue influence” reached its apotheosis when the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex—an offshoot of the Military-Industrial Complex—assumed control of the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Around the same time, a Sheriff’s Deputy in North Carolina told me about the contents of DVDs she had seized from the vehicle of a U.S. Marine who murdered his wife and children shortly after he returned from duty in Afghanistan. The DVDs contained video recordings of scenes so horrifying that the county sheriff decided to destroy them. He reasoned that if the videos were ever leaked to the press, the ensuing scandal would be the end of the U.S. Marine Corps.
The Iraq War was, for me, a profoundly dispiriting and disillusioning event. Never again would I trust the United States government to tell the truth about any serious matter.
The Iraq War prompted me to study what exactly President Eisenhower meant when he warned the American people about “the undue influence of the Military-Industrial Complex.”
Four years ago, in 2020, this “undue influence” reached its apotheosis when the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex—an offshoot of the Military-Industrial Complex—assumed control of the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Iurie Rosca, Less Than Two Months to Stop WHO Tyranny | Interview with James Roguski
..What the current batch of amendments are talking about, all the way back to 2007, the director general, pretty much just because he wants to, can declare a public health emergency of international concern, P-H-E-I-C...
..If you're traveling, they want to be able to make you take a test or prove that you're vaccinated. And if you want to disembark, you know, get off the plane or get off the cruise boat, you might find yourself in quarantine. And one more article that they're changing, or I should say they're not changing. Most people are completely unaware that this is the existing international health regulations. It's double talk. It says invasive medical examination, vaccination, or other prophylaxis shall not be required as a condition of entry of any traveler to the territory of the country, except if they want to. I mean, the doublespeak is ridiculous... It essentially says that they can, I can find the word here, compel the traveler, compel the traveler to undergo vaccination or other prophylaxis...
..They don't report on the things that they don't want you to pay attention to. So, it's up to citizen journalists to report on the information that the mainstream media will not share with you. So, what I'm an advocate of is that regular people, we have the power to take a camera or a phone and express our opinion and share it with other people that we know. Now, social media is doing a very good job of trying to censor people, but if you're watching this video right now, you can take this video and you can share it with someone that you know and they can share it and they can share it and they can share it... What I've been doing for two years is showing people their, meaning the WHO's, information and just saying, were you aware of this? ... The amendments that they are pushing for would, amongst many, many, many other things, put into international law the ability to quarantine people if they don't have a vaccine or they don't pass a test.....The working group for the international health regulation amendments has been trying very hard to keep what they're doing secret...
..I found that one of the relevant stakeholders had published a negotiating text, working document on their website...
..I found that one of the relevant stakeholders had published a negotiating text, working document on their website...
..I'm trying to get people to pay attention that they have another set of meetings, April 22nd to the 26th, to negotiate these very secret amendments to the regulations. And as far as I'm concerned, adding more authority to nations, to quarantine travelers is absolutely unacceptable, especially with vaccines that don't work and tests that are fraudulent...
..At this point, the vast majority of people are unaware, and so if you're unaware, you're not going to say anything, and the way they operate, silence is viewed as consent. So if you're aware of this and you say nothing, then you're forfeiting your rights.
Caitlin Johnstone, Israel Keeps Getting More Murderous
..Israel is so dedicated to protecting civilian life that it’s deliberately gunning down unarmed Palestinians whenever they walk within firing range and then adding them to its “Hamas terrorists killed” tally. Haaretz reports that the IDF has set up “kill zones” in Gaza where they just shoot anything that moves, with an IDF reserve officer saying the number of Hamas members Israel claims to have killed is massively inflated because “In practice, a terrorist is anyone the IDF has killed in the areas in which its forces operate.” Haaretz notes that the three escaped Israeli hostages the IDF gunned down in December had wandered into one of these kill zones.
A Doctors Without Borders physician went on Sky News to talk about Israel’s deliberate destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system, and the Murdoch shill anchor who was interviewing her asked her if Hamas was active in al-Shifa hospital fighting Israelis. The doctor, Tanya Haj-Hassan, told him “I am just shocked that we’re still having this conversation” and went on to describe how Israel’s assault on Gazan healthcare workers is so methodical that Gazan hospital staff have been changing out of their scrubs before leaving work because Israeli troops are picking off anyone in scrubs.
A Monday an Israeli airstrike on the central Gaza town of of Deir al-Balah killed seven international aid workers with World Central Kitchen, resulting in the well-known charity announcing Tuesday that it must suspend operations to deliver food aid to Gaza.
Footage confirming their deaths is driving international outrage and again ramping up the pressure on Israel. The Associated Press writes Tuesday, "Footage showed the bodies, several wearing protective gear with the charity’s logo, at a hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah." The report details, "Those killed include three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian, according to hospital records."
Footage confirming their deaths is driving international outrage and again ramping up the pressure on Israel. The Associated Press writes Tuesday, "Footage showed the bodies, several wearing protective gear with the charity’s logo, at a hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah." The report details, "Those killed include three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian, according to hospital records."
Israeli military forces have withdrawn from Gaza's largest hospital after a 14-day siege left the medical facility largely destroyed
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/pictures-gaza-al-shifa-hospital-ruins-israel-siege
The Palestinian doctors found dead in the ruins of al-Shifa hospital
Ahmad al-Maqadmeh and his mother Yusra, both working at al-Shifa, were found executed at the nearby Carrefour Mall roundabout
Ahmad al-Maqadmeh and his mother Yusra, both working at al-Shifa, were found executed at the nearby Carrefour Mall roundabout
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-israel-palestine-war-shifa-hospital-prominent-doctors-killed
For the first time, the families of the Israeli prisoners being held by the resistance in Gaza, who normally hold separate rallies, joined the massive crowds of anti-government protesters – whose movement initially started with the prime minister’s controversial overhaul initiative last year.
“The rallies are over, the protests have just begun,” said the spokesman for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Haim Rubinstein.
US Assures Iran It "Had No Involvement" In Embassy Strike As IDF Claims Only A 'Military Building' Hit
People Are Fleeing Kharkiv | Breakthrough In Umanske | Military Summary And Analysis For 2024.04.02 (15 min.) [No electricity. Huge precision glide-bombs.]
Every NATO member has military personnel in Ukraine – Estonia
Western advisers and instructors are actively supporting Kiev’s forces against Russia, the defense minister has said
The Axis of Resistance in West Asia – across Arab and Muslim states – now finds as its soul sister the Axis of Resistance spanning the Sahel in Africa, west to east, from Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea. Unlike Niger, where the change in power against neocolonialism was associated with a military coup, in Senegal, the power change comes straight from the polls.
Senegal plunged itself into a new era with the landslide victory of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, in nationwide elections on 24 March. A former tax inspector who had just spent a fortnight stint in jail, Faye emerged with the profile of an underdog pan-African leader to turn the ‘most stable democracy in Africa,’ under French puppet incumbent Macky Sall, upside down.
..Crucially, he plans to ditch the exploitative CFA franc – the French-controlled currency system used in 14 African states – even setting up a new currency as part of reshaping relations with neocolonial power France, Senegal's top trading partner... Emmanuel Macron and the French establishment consider Senegal the key player when it comes to blockading landlocked Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, which have already left Paris in the (Sahel) dust...
..Pro-west puppet regimes are dwindling fast all across the African continent. The Alliance of the Sahel States – Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – may be the vanguard of an African Axis of Resistance, but there's more, in the form of South Africa, Ethiopia, and Egypt as full BRICS members – not to mention serious candidates for the next wave of BRICS+, such as Algeria and Nigeria.
Russia, diplomatically, and China, commercially, plus the full weight of the Russia–China strategic partnership, are clearly focused on the long game – counting on Africa as a whole as a key multipolar player...
..The Pentagon master plan does not entail abandoning Africa to a multipolar Russia–China–Iran sphere of influence. Yet no one across the Sahel's Axis of Resistance buys the US 'terror threat' card anymore. There was virtually zero terror in Africa until 2011, when NATO turned Libya into a wasteland, then put boots on the ground and erected military bases across the continent. Israel in Chaos as Largest Protests Since 7 October Erupt
The families of Israeli prisoners have recently shown extreme frustration over Netanyahu’s sabotaging of an exchange deal with Hamas
Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered across Tel Aviv and other occupied cities on the evening of 30 March for protests against their Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.The families of Israeli prisoners have recently shown extreme frustration over Netanyahu’s sabotaging of an exchange deal with Hamas
For the first time, the families of the Israeli prisoners being held by the resistance in Gaza, who normally hold separate rallies, joined the massive crowds of anti-government protesters – whose movement initially started with the prime minister’s controversial overhaul initiative last year.
“The rallies are over, the protests have just begun,” said the spokesman for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Haim Rubinstein.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/israel-chaos-largest-protests-since-7-october-erupt/5853691
Russia Voices Outrage As Death Toll Rises To 11 After Israeli Attack On Iran's Damascus Embassy
Russia's Foreign Ministry reacted as follows: "We strongly condemn this attack on the Iranian consular office in Syria. We consider any attacks on diplomatic and consular facilities, the inviolability of which is guaranteed by the relevant Vienna Conventions, to be categorically unacceptable."
The Biden administration was notified just minutes before the major Israeli airstrikes on the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus on Monday, US and Israeli officials have told Axios; however, the Israeli side wasn't asking for a greenlight, the report emphasizes.
Western advisers and instructors are actively supporting Kiev’s forces against Russia, the defense minister has said
Roving Reporter Pepe Escobar, The Sahel's 'Axis of Resistance'
The emergence of Axes of Resistance in various geographies is an inextricable byproduct of the long and winding process leading us toward a multipolar world. These two things – resistance to the Hegemon and the emergence of multipolarity – are absolutely complementary. The Axis of Resistance in West Asia – across Arab and Muslim states – now finds as its soul sister the Axis of Resistance spanning the Sahel in Africa, west to east, from Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.
Senegal plunged itself into a new era with the landslide victory of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, in nationwide elections on 24 March. A former tax inspector who had just spent a fortnight stint in jail, Faye emerged with the profile of an underdog pan-African leader to turn the ‘most stable democracy in Africa,’ under French puppet incumbent Macky Sall, upside down.
The incoming Senegalese president now joins Ibrahim Traore, 36, in Burkina Faso, Aby Ahmed, 46, in Ethiopia, Andry Rajoelina, 48, in Madagascar, as well as future superstar Julius Malema, 44, in South Africa as part of the new, young pan-African generation focused on sovereignty. In his election manifesto, Faye pledged to reclaim Senegal's sovereignty no less than eighteen times...
..As Senegal becomes a substantial oil and gas producer, Faye will aim to renegotiate mining and energy contracts.....Crucially, he plans to ditch the exploitative CFA franc – the French-controlled currency system used in 14 African states – even setting up a new currency as part of reshaping relations with neocolonial power France, Senegal's top trading partner... Emmanuel Macron and the French establishment consider Senegal the key player when it comes to blockading landlocked Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, which have already left Paris in the (Sahel) dust...
..In sharp contrast to its prior regard of Niger as a staunch ally in the Sahel, Washington is now forced to present a calendar date to get its troops out of Niger – after a military cooperation deal was annulled... There are two key bases – in Agadez and Niamey – which the Pentagon spent over $150 million to build. Niamey was finished only in 2019 and is managed by the US military's African Command, AFRICOM. Operational objectives are, predictably, shrouded in mystery. The Niamey base is essentially an intel center, processing data collected by MQ-9 Reaper drones...
..These bases are not essential to exercise surveillance over the Bab al-Mandeb; it's all about the Sahel, with drones operating on their limit and violating every sovereign air space in sight.....Pro-west puppet regimes are dwindling fast all across the African continent. The Alliance of the Sahel States – Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – may be the vanguard of an African Axis of Resistance, but there's more, in the form of South Africa, Ethiopia, and Egypt as full BRICS members – not to mention serious candidates for the next wave of BRICS+, such as Algeria and Nigeria.
Russia, diplomatically, and China, commercially, plus the full weight of the Russia–China strategic partnership, are clearly focused on the long game – counting on Africa as a whole as a key multipolar player...
That study: Persistence of S1 Spike Protein in CD16+ Monocytes up to 245 Days in SARS-CoV-2 Negative Post COVID-19 Vaccination Individuals with Post-Acute Sequalae of COVID-19 (PASC)-Like Symptoms
Eleven days after a court-ordered settlement required the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove all social media and directives regarding ivermectin, a webpage and its most infamous post remains online, advising people against the use of the popular drug.
Google Settles 'Incognito' Suit, Commits To Wiping User Browsing Data
Tech giant Google has agreed to settle with plaintiffs who alleged that the company invaded users’ privacy by tracking online activities even when they were using Chrome browser’s private incognito mode.
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/google-settles-incognito-suit-commits-wiping-user-browsing-data
RFK Jr. Says He Will Pardon Whistleblower Edward Snowden If Elected President
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., claims he would pardon whistleblower Edward Snowden on his first day as president if elected and “investigate the corruption and crimes he exposed.”
From 3/12/24: “I would pardon people,” Kennedy said. “I intend to use the pardon power, and I intend to use it very quickly in office. I’m going to pardon Julian Assange. I’m going to pardon Edward Snowden. I may pardon Ross Ulbricht if I find that his prosecution was, that his sentence, his very lengthy sentence, was the result of making an example of him in order to punish Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.”
Senior police officers are expecting a deluge of complaints over online posts after the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 created a new crime of “stirring up hatred” relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex.
A person could now be imprisoned for up to seven years if they engage in “insulting” behaviour towards ‘protected’ groups, and the prosecution only needs to prove that the hatred was “likely” rather than “intended”...
..Rowling has vowed to continue calling biological males men and says she will now be targeted for telling the truth.
During their training program on enforcing the new law, police officers were taught that even the content of plays and comedy gigs should be considered as potential hate crimes...
During their training program on enforcing the new law, police officers were taught that even the content of plays and comedy gigs should be considered as potential hate crimes...
..Authorities admit that dealing with the expected flood of hate crime reports would prevent them from investigating real crimes.
A Police Scotland pilot in Aberdeen which was deemed a “success” and is expected to be implemented means “more than 24,000 offences a year will no longer be allocated to a front-line officer.”
Law Abiding Citizen (pictured at ground level receiving cut branch from son via a rope)
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