We are experiencing some very strange times. People are turning on one another over everything from race and religion to socio-economic status. Governments are waging wars against not just foreign governments, but their own citizens resulting in standoffs in suburban streets! Business acumen and entrepreneurship are being stifled by idiotic government regulations. Public officials who know nothing about wealth creation but everything about wealth theft are rewarded. Governments are becoming larger and are taking a much larger role in economies. So is the size of their debt. Corrupt public officials and crony capitalists are a hindrance to a thriving economy. They try to take the fruits of the industrious and transfer it to themselves and their crony supporters as entitlements. But, in the process they don’t see that are destroying the goose that lays the golden egg.
The two enemies of the people are criminals and Government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.
-- Thomas Jefferson
Meanwhile, even though bank after bank has been fined billions for the crimes they have committed on innocent individuals, not one banker has been prosecuted. Yet, hard-working individuals are being treated like hardened criminals by these very institutions. Banks demand individuals to comply with the most ridiculous laws that have nothing to do with money laundering or drug smuggling. Even making a cash deposit into an account is practically a criminal act! These measures are not designed to protect the individual and instead are measures to ensure that governments have access to more bank accounts. And, instead of trying to prevent corruption, governments are targeting individuals who are simply taking measures to protect their wealth from confiscation.
All this debt, graft, and incompetence that's so prevalent today in governments around the world shows the direction that things are headed. However, if you are aware of this, there are steps you can take to protect yourself.
In the most recent instance of grand hypocrisy, the West rebuked Russia for sending scores of trucks filled with aid to east Ukraine's rebel-held Lugansk in a move Kiev decried as an "invasion." Yet, they have justified U.S. airstrikes and humanitarian aid into Iraq and more recently Syria.
While, the European Union and the United States demanded that Russia immediately withdraw the convoy, nothing has been said about the two-hundred and fifty thousand or more people who are without electricity, water and in some cases food. And, no one is willing to help these innocent people apart from the Russian government.
Washington warned Russia it could face further sanctions, while the UN Security Council expressed concern that the move could lead to an escalation in the four-month conflict.
Some 280 trucks from the Russian convoy had been waiting at the border with Ukraine for a week as Moscow pressed for the aid to urgently be delivered to civilians in areas that have come under Ukrainian shelling.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said further delay would have been "unacceptable" as he justified the decision in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who travels to Kiev Saturday for talks with Ukraine's leadership.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin provided a list of the aid, including electric generators, sugar, tea and baby food, and scoffed at suggestions that these could have military purposes.
When asked about whether the aid was intended to help the rebels, he responded: "With baby food?" On Friday, the United States demanded Russia "immediately" withdraw an aid convoy of vehicles from Ukraine and warned of further international sanctions if Moscow did not respect Kiev's sovereignty.
"Russia must remove its vehicles and its personnel from the territory of Ukraine immediately. Failure to do so will result in additional costs and isolation," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters.
I watched this briefing in disbelief as Rear Admiral John Kirby spoke about Russia, Ukraine and the ongoing Islamic State threat in Syria and Iraq. Kirby slammed Russia for sending a column into Ukraine’s territory under the guise of humanitarian aid. But, no one has seen any armed column. He said that the Russians have amassed more than 10,000 troops on the Ukraine border, and that they are combined-arms capable, very ready and very capable. Kirby also accused Russia of directly assisting the separatists in Ukraine with armour and anti-aircraft missiles. It was a Russian anti-aircraft missile fired by separatists that shot down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine. Yet, there is no evidence to support this allegation and so far to date, there has not been any military invasion into Ukraine by Russia.
Between, Kirby and the other two stand-up comedians who go under the pretext as White House spokeswomen, namely Mari Huff and Jen Psaki, it is obvious that Washington is trying its’ utmost to demonize Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Unfortunately, it is people like these who tarnish the image of the United States as not everyone around the world is going to believe the nonsense that continually spews out of their mouths.
During the same press conference, Kirby revealed that US air forces have conducted 93 airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq, but at the same time insisted that there is no military solution to the threat that IS poses. “Good governance,” Kirby said, is what will ultimately defeat the Islamist terrorist group.
Thanks to the U.S. military, the Islamic State uses American weapons and vehicles that were left behind when Iraqi army units abandoned them. And, there is a distinct difference between these Islamic militants and Russia. While, IS’s has committed some unspeakable atrocities, Russia has not even fired one bullet. So, it is very strange that the US and its Western allies propagate such misinformation about Russia and its’ president, Vladimir Putin.
NATO's secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, called Russia's unilateral decision to send more than 130 trucks filled with what it called humanitarian aid into rebel-held areas “a blatant breach of Russia's international commitments'' and “a further violation of Ukraine's sovereignty by Russia.''
Rasmussen said in a statement that Friday's convoy to Luhansk could deepen a crisis “which Russia itself has created and has continued to fuel.''
Rasmussen said the action has coincided with “a major escalation in Russian military involvement in Eastern Ukraine since mid-August, including the use of Russian forces.” Rasmussen urged Moscow "to stop destabilizing Ukraine."
The EU's foreign policy chief's office also condemned the convoy.
"This is a clear violation of the Ukrainian border. This also goes counter to the previous arrangements reached between Ukraine, Russia and the ICRC. We urge Russia to reverse its decision," Sebastien Brabant, spokesman for the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin talked to German Chancellor Angela Merkel by phone on Friday and discussed possible joint steps to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine ahead of Merkel's trip to Kiev on Saturday, the Kremlin said.
Putin told Merkel that Russia decided to send the humanitarian convoy into Ukraine because it could no longer wait for Kiev to give the green light. He also expressed concern over escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin statement said.
Ukraine has accused Russia of supporting and arming the rebels, a charge Russia denies.
While I still believe unequivocally that the United States is one of the greatest nations on this planet, I am amazed at the constant flaws of their foreign policy. I also think that government is being manipulated by big businesses, financial institutions and socialist government bureaucrats that promote big government over the individual.
It is these people, the so called “elites” that will do anything to maintain their power and the hegemony of the U.S. dollar. The people who caused the great World War I, World War II and all wars — and thus caused the deaths and suffering of millions of people — were none other than central bankers in other countries and the U.S. Federal Reserve. Central banks create paper money and credit for government and politicians to spend for war and a broad socialist agenda. And, because of so many poor decisions made today by US politicians and central bankers, the rest of the world is rapidly starting to drop the dollar as the preferred reserve currency and adopt alternatives.
The discipline of the Gold standard would have prevented many of the wars of the past 100 years. Millions of dead soldiers died for nothing, along with millions of civilians. But if history repeats itself, then we could be on the same path as Weimar Germany in the 1920s. During that period, paper currency became worthless. A loaf of bread cost 100,000 million marks. But those who had gold and silver in their possession were still able to purchase bread and meat. The Fed is now buying debt with debt. The “official” inflation numbers are a scam, as anyone who is buying food knows.
I hope this madness stops before it gets out of control. If things spiral out of control those people who hold gold and silver will retain their wealth. Those who hold fiat dollars will be destitute.