Showing posts with label diplomacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diplomacy. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Good-bye, BlackRock! So Long, Petrodollar! Hello, Peace!

China must be stopped before it imposes totalitarian diplomacy on Ukraine and authoritarian peace in the middle east. --Caitlin Johnstone

 

Good-bye, BlackRock! 

So Long, Petrodollar! 

Hello, Peace!

by C. A. Matthews

 

I took only one economics course in college, but even I can understand enough about our screwed up capitalist economic system to see where we’ve gone wrong. We’ve placed greed before compassion and war before peace because of their profit-making abilities. Look where it’s gotten us—the US stands on the precipice of total disaster.

And that’s a good thing.

Can the destruction of our corporate-controlled government’s way of manipulating and exploiting other governments be a positive development in the quest for world peace? I think we’re witnessing the end of an era. Soon the United States will have to stop forcing “freedom and democracy” upon other countries via sanctions and bombings. 

This “War on Terrorism” era that turned the US into the world’s biggest economic terrorist is, at last, drawing to a close. China is taking the world stage as peacemaker, acting as a go-between to feuding neighbors Iran and Saudi Arabia. Other countries are being helped by China’s New Silk Road (officially, the Belt and Road Initiative) with its low interest loans that will help them build necessary infrastructure projects.

I can see that quizzical look on some of my readers' faces now. China? What do you mean it’s not forcing itself on others with economic sanctions and threats of “military interventions” the way the US does? It actually wants countries to get along so everyone can safely do business with each other and live in peace?

What a dangerous concept according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken actually claimed that brokering peace deals between countries wasn’t a good thing after China said it was willing to sit down with Russia and Ukraine and help them put an end to their disagreements and save lives.

The US refuses to accept these potential peace negotiations (even though we’re supposedly not even at war with Russia) because it’s not in our best interests according to Blinken. The US government’s stance is that it prefers the fighting continue—or is it our true masters, the military industrial complex, who prefer this proxy war go on forever? Endless warfare means they can sell an infinite amount of armaments to a steadily growing number of combatants. At least that’s the theory if the countries involved don’t run out of soldiers. I guess there’s always those nifty A.I. “robodogs” with machine guns for faces to take up the slack, right?

MIC capitalists can’t have peace and cooperation breaking out across the planet like crocuses breaking through the frozen soil in the spring. No, never! What would happen to their profits if people simply lived in harmony with each other? Oh, the horror!

Those Americans who continue listening to mainstream media propagandists (who actually work for the military industrial complex) will continue believing that “War is Peace.” Orwellian doublespeak makes them see the world through the eyes of capitalist warmongers and profiteers. They irrationally hate China and its diplomatic ways. They’ll continue screaming for billions of dollars more to be sent to Ukraine in order to prolong that conflict, in spite of the fact there are fewer and fewer Ukrainians left to do the fighting. They’ll insist on the US starting a war to nuke China over Taiwan, a break away province that hasn’t been sanctioned or bombed by its parent country. For capitalists, it’s America’s way or the highway, even if the highway is strewn with millions of dead bodies from conflicts that could have easily been avoided.

Fortunately, the vast majority of sane individuals on this planet aren’t falling for the capitalists’ lies about the necessity for resource grabs any longer. They don’t agree with the US policy of economic sanctions that cause hunger and chaos in their wake. African leaders told a visiting V.P. Kamala Harris that they’re not going to be bullied into using the American petrodollar to do business internationally anymore. India and Pakistan have purchased and sold oil recently from Russia using their currency and not the petrodollar. Many countries are applying to join BRICS, an association of nations willing do business with each other in their own currencies and not the “standard reserve currency” of the US petrodollar.

Upon hearing about the growth of BRICS and the use of other currencies, Senator Marco Rubio let slip in a news interview: “They're creating a secondary economy in the world totally independent of the United States. We won't have to talk about sanctions in five years, because there'll be so many countries transacting in currencies other than the dollar that we won't have the ability to sanction them." 

Oops!

That’s great news for heavily sanctioned countries like Cuba. Cuba, a country that came up with its own COVID-19 vaccine that it freely shares with others as well as a lung cancer vaccine than can cure millions. Cuba would prosper and be able to share even more of its people’s expertise freely without the economic roadblock of the US petrodollar. But Big Pharmaceutical corporations don’t want the “competition” that free vaccines and cures for cancer can give, so the US economic sanctions most likely will continue for the foreseeable future.

It’s nothing to be proud of. US economic sanctions and military interventions have maimed, starved, injured and killed more human beings in the last seventy years that in all the wars that have taken placed before that time. Most of the dead are children

Why, oh why? Don’t you capitalists have enough profits? Your CEOs are multi-billionaires already—do they have to become trillionaires at the cost of so much human suffering?

I've had enough of them. I say, “So long, petrodollar! Hello, world peace!” What about this“Good-bye, BlackRock” then?

French protesters—remember them from last week’s blog?entered the Paris headquarters of BlackRock. BlackRock is an international corporation with assets worth somewhere in the vicinity of $10 trillion dollars. (Yes, that’s trillion with a “tr” and not a “b”.) If you are one of the millions of Americans who lost their home in the 2008 mortgage crisis, the bank or mortgage company that repossessed your home is probably controlled by BlackStone, which is owned by BlackRock. They hold a major share in thousands of corporations worldwide. Some of these corporations are major players in the US military industrial complex.

BlackRock has a lot of its investments in pension plans, perhaps even your own 401K, and it owns a lot of the French pension system as well. The French workers have told President Macron that they’re tired of the wealthy not paying their fair share of taxes and his unilateral raising of their retirement age. They are burning bank buildings because they realize their true enemies are not their fellow workers, or even people around the world who don’t look like them, but the capitalists who own and operate such obscenities as BlackRock. 

The French are also marching in the streets shouting at Macron to stop spending their taxes to fund a proxy war to control natural gas sales in Europe. They are anti-NATO, because everyone in France openly acknowledges that the Ukraine conflict was provoked by Western economies to break the Russian and its friends' economies. French workers want peace and justice for ordinary people, not only the multi-billionaires. 
 
Now you can see why Secretary Blinken doesn’t want China to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. There’s money to be made in conflict for his bosses in the military industrial complex, and peace would cause their profits to plummet. The petrodollar is on the wane, and he knows it. US economic sanctions won’t work much longer if there are other currencies being used to do business internationally between nations. The whole “terrorist threat” of US economic sanctions and endless warfare/coups d'état might be coming to an end much sooner than predicted.

It’s about time.

Let’s give peace a chance, America. Everyone will benefit. Even the goddamn profit-loving capitalists.

 

Related Links:

Geopolitical game changer: China's Iran-Saudi peace deal is big blow to petrodollar and US economic hegemony https://geopoliticaleconomy.substack.com/p/china-iran-saudi-peace-petrodollar 
 
Countries Worldwide Are Dropping the US Dollar
https://popularresistance.org/countries-worldwide-are-dropping-the-us-dollar/

The Tragedy of US Diplomacy Pushing for War But Never Peace
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/the-tragedy-of-us-diplomacy-pushing-for-war-but-never-peace
 
Human Destiny In Ukraine
https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/09/human-destiny-in-ukraine/

On Biden Turning Down China's Push for a Peace Deal in Ukraine
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/china-peace-deal-for-ukraine
 
How the Global South Has Risen in the Face of US Sabotage
https://www.mintpressnews.com/how-the-global-south-has-risen-in-the-face-of-us-sabotage/284247/

 
UN Human Rights Council Condemns Impact Of Unilateral Sanctions  https://popularresistance.org/un-human-rights-council-condemns-impact-of-unilateral-sanctions/ 
 
While Everyone's Distracted, The Dollar Is Dying
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/while-everyones-distracted-dollar-dying

More and More Countries Are Ditching the US Dollar, Here's Why (video)  https://youtu.be/UcIPLGvwGF0

Question marks emerge over dollar supremacy
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/06/tokb-a06.html

Russia Writes Off 20 Billion In Debt To African Countries
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Russia-Writes-Off-20-Billion-In-Debt-To-African-Countries-20230320-0015.html

15 Million in the US to be Kicked Off of Public Health Benefits
https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/07/15-million-in-the-us-to-be-kicked-off-of-public-health-benefits/

UN Human Rights Council Condemns Impact of Unilateral Sanctions https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/06/un-human-rights-council-condemns-impact-of-unilateral-sanctions/

Africa ‘All Out,’ 54-0, Against Joining Biden’s Proxy War on Russia
https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/07/africa-all-out-54-0-against-joining-bidens-proxy-war-on-russia/

The West Has Been Planning to Crush China For a Very Long Time
https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-west-has-been-planning-to-crush

Why China's Winning & The US Is Panicking (w/ Josef Gregory Mahoney) (video) https://www.youtube.com/live/MMkqeaTlVTA

Chinese Currency Displaces Euro In Brazil’s Foreign Reserves
https://popularresistance.org/chinese-currency-displaces-euro-in-brazils-foreign-reserves/

China’s Historical Destiny Is to Stand With the Third World
https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/02/chinas-historical-destiny-is-to-stand-with-the-third-world/
 
Marco Rubio Accidentally Makes a Great Argument Against US Dollar Hegemony https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/marco-rubio-accidentally-makes-a 
 
Protesters Storm BlackRock (video) https://rumble.com/v2he81o-protesters-storm-blackrocks-offices-bidens-oil-drilling-orgy.html

Macron Fails to Persuade, So Opts for Coercion
https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/08/macron-fails-to-persuade-so-opts-for-coercion/

French Protesters Storm BlackRock's Paris HQ (video) https://youtu.be/xqki_HI1ZRY

US Media Cheer as France Forces Old People to Work https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/08/us-media-cheer-as-france-forces-old-people-to-work/

Biden Knocking 15 Million Off Healthcare (video) https://rumble.com/v2h0lzq-trumps-plane-gets-more-media-than-biden-knocking-15-million-off-healthcare.html 

US Bank Bailout Benefited Billionaires, Exposing Corruption: ‘I Understand Why Americans Are Angry’ https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/10/us-bank-bailout-benefitted-billionaires-exposing-corruption-i-understand-why-americans-are-angry/ 

Seymour Hersh: The Nord Stream Ghost Ship
https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/05/seymour-hersh-the-nord-stream-ghost-ship/

For The Record, NPR Absolutely Is US State Propaganda
https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/for-the-record-npr-absolutely-is

French Revolution 2.0/American Revolution Nil https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2023/04/french-revolution-20american-revolution.html


Seen on Twitter:

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Holding the Establishment Accountable

We need to hold the establishment accountable. It's up to us, the 99%, ordinary Americans to do so. We can't trust anyone in power currently. We can only trust our own instincts.

Coast Watcher's article below shows us how Trump is destroying our country's standing in the world, all for his and his fellow billionaires' private gain. It's high time we hold the Cheeto-in-Chief accountable, isn't it?

Trump and the Death of Protocol
by Coast Watcher

Protocol exists in diplomacy for a reason. It forms the rules of the diplomatic road, smoothing out the awkwardness in engaging with different cultures and creating a path for dialogue. It can, literally, prevent wars.

Trump doesn’t believe in protocol. He’s the perpetual pig-headed bullying CEO, and his word goes, no matter the circumstances or situation. The world witnessed this witless fool’s take on diplomacy during his recent visit to the Far East.

Japanese culture is carefully structured with established protocols governing bowing upon greeting others. Trump gave Japanese Emperor Akihito, ruler of a nation far older than the US, a handshake and a nod. During a photo op where he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe fed valuable koi carp, Trump lost patience with the slow, careful measuring out of food and instead dumped his entire box into the water. At a state banquet given in his honor, Trump demanded the Japanese food be taken away and a hamburger brought to his table in its place. He’s guilty not only of breaching protocol but of eating and behaving like a five year old.

His sturm-und-drang approach to North Korea toned down significantly while he was within range of the wayward regime’s artillery and missiles, only to pick up again when he was well away from the country. 

His campaign trail rhetoric against China, so full of threats and bluster, disappeared when he stood on Beijing’s doorstep. He even kowtowed (A Mandarin Chinese word that means "to show obsequious deference") to the Chinese politburo by acceding to their demand to not hold a press conference about their various meetings. No other US president has ever condoned such a restriction.

“But Donald Trump doesn't like talking things out, or principled beliefs, or people not kowtowing to him.” ~ Luke Darby, GQ, 23 September 2017.

Trump waited until he was safely in Vietnam before resuming his blustery rhetoric against China. He wants others to kowtow to him, yet he’s not above sucking up to a bigger bully when one comes along.

I wonder how his more racist, gun-waving gung-ho followers feel about that?
Oh, by the way – gung ho is another Mandarin word – gōng hé – meaning work together. Will those macho militarist types like knowing one of their favorite phrases is actually Socialist in origin?

I can’t help thinking there’s a White House protocol officer somewhere, crying into his or her cups because their boss is determined to do things his way. With the United States becoming increasingly isolated and even marginalized on the world stage, the need for diplomacy and proper protocol has never been greater. Yet Trump in his wisdom (stop laughing at the back!) thinks otherwise. 




And who do we really have to blame for Trump gaining the presidency? This meme says it all:

BIO: Coast Watcher keeps an eye out for any signs there will be a break in the hot-air gushing out from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. As a Brit living abroad, he wonders how long Americans will put up with the Mangled Apricot Hellbeast. He hopes it's not much longer.



***
 To our veterans...who don't always receive their due reward from a grateful government. Happy Veterans' Day.
 
Now some suggestions on how to hold the establishment 
accountable for their actions against the 99%.

From Rootstrikers:
After Wells Fargo fraudulently opened 3.5 million customer accounts without permission, you would think everyone would agree it’s time to crack down. 
Nope! Wall Street’s cronies in Congress and the White House just voted in the dead of night to protect banks like Wells Fargo from getting held accountable in court, killing the Consumer Bureau’s rule against banks’ forced arbitration “ripoff clauses.” 

We’re calling on bank regulators in Washington to step up. 
With the power to pull Wells Fargo’s bank charter or access to public FDIC deposit insurance, they can deliver real accountability for the crimes at Wells Fargo. They just need the courage to do it. 

Sign and share the petition to banking regulators: Cut off government support to Wells Fargo. 

Every major bank in the U.S. enjoys major public subsidies and benefits.
Bank charters are publicly granted, and the FDIC insurance for their deposit accounts is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
Wells Fargo’s regulators at the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) and FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) have a rule: Engage in “unsafe and unsound practices” like breaking the law and you can lose those public benefits.1 

Wells Fargo has repeatedly violated the law. Cutting off their public benefits could even force Wells Fargo to wind down, and send a clear message that banks can’t expect to get away with breaking the law. 

Sign and share the petition to banking regulators: Cut off government support to Wells Fargo. 

Wells Fargo got issued $185 million in fines last year for the fake accounts scandal, but that’s virtually a rounding error in a year they made $22 billion in profits.2 

Since then, news keeps coming out about more ways Wells has broken the law – illegal overdraft charges, bogus auto loans forced on 800,000 people, illegal student loan servicing.3 

It’s clear Wells Fargo won’t clean house on its own. Twelve out of 15 members on the board of directors today were overseeing the bank during the fake accounts scandal.4 Even the executives who left walked away with millions and no jail time.

Bank regulators have a big opportunity to do the right thing. Staff at OCC have already found unsafe and unsound practices at Wells Fargo and recommended tough enforcement action (even if the former Wells Fargo lawyer Trump installed to head the agency5 tries to cover it up).

And the situation is even more promising at the FDIC, where only one out of the four current members of the board of directors is a Trump pick. They just need to know the public is with them if they launch a serious investigation into Wells Fargo’s illegal behavior – and cutting off its public deposit insurance. 

Sign and share the petition to banking regulators: Cut off government support to Wells Fargo. 

Thank you,
The Team at Rootstrikers


DONATE 
Sources:
1. Demand Progress, "Joint Letters: Key Consumer, Labor, and Financial Reform Groups Push Regulators to Revoke Wells Fargo’s Charter and Deposit Insurance," Oct. 4, 2017.
2. Wells Fargo, "Wells Fargo Reports $5.3 Billion in Quarterly Net Income," Jan. 13, 2017.
3. Demand Progress, "Joint Letters: Key Consumer, Labor, and Financial Reform Groups Push Regulators to Revoke Wells Fargo’s Charter and Deposit Insurance," Oct. 4, 2017.
4. Elizabeth Warren, "Warren Highlights New Evidence of Wells Fargo Misconduct, Renews Call for Federal Reserve to Remove Bank Board Members," Aug. 16, 2017.
5. The Intercept, "More Trump Populism: Hiring a Bank Lawyer to Attack CFPB Bank Rules," July 20, 2017.
***





Get Transphobic Professor Out of the Classroom

Playing a game called "Female or Shemale" sounds like something out of a terrible 1990s coming-of-age comedy. Unfortunately, this transphobic game took place in 2017, in a classroom, and was orchestrated by the professor himself.
State University of New York Professor David Sorbello thought he was being edgy and funny when he gave this quiz to his sociology students. They were shown photos of women and had to guess whether they were "real" women or not.
This behavior has no place in society, and it especially does not belong in a college course. As a group, trans women face higher rates of violence, and and the current statistics suggest the rates numbers aren't declining. Actions like this quiz dehumanize trans women and have dangerous implications.
Sorbello was hired to shape the minds of young students. Instead of helping them learn compassion and empathy, he's chosen to teach them it's OK to ostracize an entire group of people for a laugh.
Thank you for making a difference,
Angie L.
The Care2 Petitions Team

 


 ***

From Rainforest Action Network:


We have a chance right now to pressure two of the biggest banks on Wall St. to say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline — JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.


Tar sands oil is one of the dirtiest on the planet — yet Wall Street banks, like JPMorgan Chase, continue to pour billions into this extreme fossil fuel. This December, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and 17 other major global banks face a crucial choice on Keystone XL, tar sands, Indigenous rights and the climate. 


On Dec. 15, two credit facilities totaling $1.5 billion will expire. This is the credit that would allow TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline. It’s up to these banks, with JPMorgan Chase in the lead, to decide whether or not to renew this critical funding.


JPMorgan Chase and the other big banks have a huge decision to make: Will they continue to profit off climate chaos? Will they continue to pour billions into the toxic tar sands oil sector? Will they continue to support projects that trample on Indigenous rights?

Or will they finally do the right thing and say NO to Keystone XL?

Add your voice: Tell JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and 17 other global banks to say NO to Keystone XL on December 15www.ran.org/chase_stop_kxl

Indigenous nations, ranchers, farmers, grassroots leaders and individuals — from the epicenter of tar sands extraction and along the pipeline route — have united in opposition to Keystone XL.


The time to turn up the pressure on JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo is now! A crucial decision from the Nebraska Public Service Commission is imminent— and that could determine the fate of the pipeline.There are three possible scenarios. The commission could reject, reroute or approve the pipeline. But even if the commission rejects the pipeline, TransCanada is likely to appeal. Regardless, TransCanada will need funds to construct KXL. 


JPMorgan Chase and Wall Street banks don’t want to be bothered with the inconvenient fact that funding Keystone XL means funding climate chaos and abuse of Indigenous rights. We need to tell them loud and clear: ”Business as usual” created this climate crisis — and “business as usual” is over!

Demand Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase defund TransCanada’s KXL pipeline. www.ran.org/chase_stop_kxl


We need to send a clear message to banks like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase that the funding of extreme fossil fuels like tar sands is no longer acceptable. We will not tolerate threats to our climate, health, land, and water.
Chase_No_KXL.jpg

Right now, at this year’s international climate conference in Bonn, Germany, countries and corporations are discussing how to put the Paris climate accord into practice. Stopping finance for expansion of tar sands oil would start to put big banks into alignment with climate stability. Continued funding of extreme fossil fuels means extreme weather. Climate change is not a threat of the future, but a critical challenge that is causing catastrophic impacts around the world and requires immediate action now.
Clean_Energy_Future.jpg
We need your voice — today. Tell JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo that you expect banks to live up to their commitments to Indigenous rights and the environment. www.ran.org/chase_stop_kxl


For Indigenous rights and a climate stable future,


unnamed.jpg

Ruth Breech
Senior Campaigner, Climate and Energy






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Image
My name is Bonnie Wright and I am very excited to be with Greenpeace on board The Arctic Sunrise. You may recognize me as Ginny Weasley from the Harry Potter films, but for the last 24 hours I have been a deckhand. I am here to learn more about Greenpeace’s Ocean Plastics campaign and how we can end single-use plastics.

Every minute of every day the equivalent of one garbage truck load of plastic enters our oceans. Plastics are filling up our oceans and killing marine life around the globe. From straws to soda rings, these plastics choke or entangle species like seabirds, turtles, and whales.

We can no longer tolerate this cycle of destruction for so-called "convenience". I know you've already added your name to Greenpeace's petition demanding 
corporations come up with better designs and methods for the delivery of goods. Thank you. Will you take the next step? Before one more truck load of plastic enters the ocean, share this message with your friends and family and ask them to take action to end corporate plastic pollution.

You can simply forward this email or share the petition on facebook.

Yesterday, we trawled once just after departing from Freeport in The Bahamas and secondly when we were within The Gulf Stream. Trawling is like fishing, but unfortunately in this case for plastics. Greenpeace has been trawling, conducting beach cleanups and brand audits throughout their Atlantic Coast ship tour in order to gain a better understanding of just how much plastic we have polluting our waterways and connecting the waste back to the corporations responsible for it.

I was saddened to find lots of different types of plastic in our trawl, large pieces of soft plastic, fishing lines, and polystyrene. The turtles and fish that were on this planet long before us are now eating these plastics which clog up their organs and can cause death.

This should not be happening. Single-use plastic that we all use practically every day is what is harming ocean wildlife, but you can help stop plastic pollution. Share my message and ask your friends and family to sign the Greenpeace petition calling out the corporate polluters that are choking our oceans.

There is no planet B, so I believe it is our responsibility to think before we consume plastic that will eventually make its way into this beautiful ocean I am currently surrounded by.

I look forward to sharing more stories after my journey aboard The Arctic Sunrise.

Bonnie

Bonnie Wright